Eze's stats against Lille hint at turning point after quiet start

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Eberechi Eze has not started a single Premier League match for Arsenal this season, but his performance off the bench in the 3-0 Champions League win over Lille suggests momentum could finally be building for the £67.5m summer signing.

The 28 year old came on and inspired a second half attacking clinic, eventually rifling home Bukayo Saka's crisp cutback for his first goal of the campaign. Afterwards, Eze described the feeling simply: "It's fun." He added: "I always want to play, always want to score, and that's the mentality, I'll keep pushing and keep working."

A quiet start finally interrupted

Before facing Lille, Eze's underlying numbers made for underwhelming reading. He had created just 1.16 chances per 90 minutes, well behind Christos Tzolis's 2.37, and had not registered a single shot on target all season. Despite averaging 4.25 attempted dribbles per 90, he had completed only around 27 per cent of them, working out to roughly 1.16 successful dribbles per 90.

Tzolis, signed for £34million from Club Brugge, had also out performed Eze in touches in the opposition box, averaging 5.5 to Eze's 4.3, while contributing four assists and multiple goal involvements through pre-season.

Arteta revealed on Monday that Eze had not yet come to him to ask why his minutes had been limited, a detail that hints the player himself recognises his form had not been where it needed to be. According to football.london, Arteta also explained that Noni Madueke had been "the best player in training" for 10 days before replacing the injured Tzolis on the left against Leeds, an unexpected switch that appears to have spurred Eze into life.

A statistical turnaround against Lille

The numbers from the Lille match tell a very different story to the rest of Eze's campaign so far. He recorded 12 touches in the opposition box, one more than he had managed across his previous seven appearances and 233 minutes combined this season.

He also had five shots, the joint most of any player alongside Bruno Guimaraes, again one more than his combined total from every other game this term. On top of that, Eze completed four dribbles, more than any other player on the pitch and a sharp rise on his previous output.

Arsenal have a dense run of domestic and European fixtures coming up, and there is now a sense that this could be the stretch where Eze begins to show the explosive, free flowing qualities that defined his career before his move from Crystal Palace. Based on Tuesday's showing against Lille, the signs are there for Arteta to build on.