Did Nuno Tavares show he can challenge Tierney for a starting spot? | OneFootball

Tavares on point to rival Tierney!

Nine games into the season and Nuno Tavares finally got to make his full Premier League debut for Arsenal after joining in the summer.

Had Kieran Tierney not been ruled out with an ankle injury, Tavares may have had to wait a bit longer for his full debut, but every cloud has a silver lining and as disappointing it is that Tierney is injured, and of course let’s hope he is not ruled out for long, it is nice to see another player come in and perform to the same high standard that Kieran himself does!

Tavares did not disappoint on his full debut, where he impressed from start to finish, as he was linking up well on the left-hand side with his teammates and Smith-Rowe in particular.

Maybe the performance of the whole team, the pressing, the intensity and the teamwork as a whole helped him settle in much quicker, but he has done a lot to show the sort of player he is.

People will argue of course that it was only Aston Villa and it was easy for Arsenal to be truly dominant and his true colours may show when we play a tougher opponent, of course the same can be said for every player, but you can only judge a player on their performance one game at a time, and based on what I saw tonight against Villa I was very impressed with Tavares.

As both players are also still in their early 20’s can it be safe to say we have two talented and potential best left backs in the league?

Well, based on his performance on Friday, surely he has sent a message to Arteta, Tierney himself, and even us Arsenal fans, to say that he too has not come just to warm the bench or make up the numbers but to rival Tierney and compete for that left back spot.

Gooners are we on the road to being blessed with yet another talented left-back to rival that of Tierney?

Shenel Osman

@sh3n3l_