Henrikh Mkhitaryan is Arsenal’s best performing player: WhoScored

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is Arsenal’s best performing player at the club, beating former Gunner Alexis Sanchez, after a bright start to his new life in London, WhoScored statistics reveal.

WhoScored use a number of statistics to put together a match rating for players each game. They then average those ratings over the season to rank each player against each other.

Mkhitaryan is top of the list in the current Arsenal squad, with a Premier League rating of 7.51. He also has as many man-of-the-match awards (two) as anyone in Arsene Wenger’s side this season, despite only appearing in six games.

For any Arsenal fan, that also beats Alexis Sanchez’s rating at Arsenal (7.33) and the Chilean’s rating at Manchester United (7.45), the Daily Cannon says.

As for European competition, Mkhitaryan’s rating is slightly better still, at 7.52. For comparison, the Armenian’s league rating at United was 6.96, and in Europe it was 7.33.

"The stats just support what most of us are seeing on the pitch. Mkhitaryan is finding his feet well after struggling in Manchester, and is working hard to get back to his best. His performances against AC Milan home and away were certainly the highlights so far," author Dan Critchlow says.

"One thing that perhaps deserves more recognition is how well he contributes defensively. In the second leg against Milan, the 29-year-old made as many tackles as all his teammates combined."

The Armenia international endured a difficult 18-month spell under Jose Mourinho at Manchester United before swapping Old Trafford for the Emirates in January as part of the swap deal which saw Alexis Sanchez move in the opposite direction.

While Sanchez has struggled badly, scoring just once in 10 games, since his high-profile move, Mkhitaryan appears to be thriving in an attack-minded Arsenal side.

The 29-year-old has already provided six assists and scored in consecutive games, including his maiden Arsenal goal in last week’s 2-0 over AC Milan in the Europa League.