mixed

Arsenal 3-0 Lille: Bukayo Saka responds to challenge as fringe players have mixed night

“That is where we need to get him,” said the Gunners boss before the game. “And if he misses the chance, so be it. At the end, the more volume we generate, the bigger the probability of him scoring more goals.”

Saka’s strike against Lille was a confident one-touch finish and came after he missed a late one-on-one opportunity in Saturday’s Premier League victory over Leeds.

“He has been getting in great positions, getting shots, getting one-touch finishes and tap-ins,” added Arteta.

“That is the kind of unpredictability we have with that player, otherwise we know how the opponent is going to defend him. He is doing well, he could have had another four or five goals by now, easily. But if he continues like that, we know.

“When he talks about scoring a certain amount of goals, he needs to be thinking about scoring a certain amount of goals per game. If that shifts, that mentality, he will get into those positions and score more goals.”

Saka has scored 20 goals in a season just once in his career, which came in the 2023-24 campaign and 16 in the Premier League.

But the winger has also been in good goalscoring form for England with five in his last four matches and scored a double in the 7-0 Nations League demolition of Croatia in the recent international break.

Saka is now on 19 goals in major European competitions for Arsenal, only behind Thierry Henry (42), while he has nine assists in the Champions League which puts him behind Henry (16) and Cesc Fabregas (14).

He has refused to disclose the targets he has set himself, but Arteta welcomed Saka’s response following his message to do more in front of goal.

The Spaniard said: “I don’t know if that’s the case, but I am very happy.

“He wasn’t feeling that good yesterday and today, as he had some sort of illness. He wasn’t ready to start but he was really wanting to contribute to the team if it was needed and he came on and made a huge impact and delivered with real quality.”

Arteta revealed he also spoke to Saka after telling the media about his desire for the player to have a greater impact.

“After the press conference I went, he was on the massage table, and I said, ‘Bukayo I just killed you in the press conference, good luck tomorrow’, he added.

“He was laughing. He knows that we have discussed these kind of things and he takes it because he wants to be the best version of himself.

“In order to do that, you have to put big objectives and challenges and try to reason by working and being consistent – and when it doesn’t work, keep going because he has the ability to do it.”

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Asian markets mixed following Wall St gains; heavy earnings week ahead

Stock market activity shows price changes and trading movements in real time

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Cops threaten to force arrested suspects to listen to Taylor Swift’s new release on loop after it received mixed reviews

COPS have threatened to force arrested criminals to listen to Taylor Swift’s new release on loop.

Greensboro Police in North Carolina, US, jokingly swiped at the superstar’s album after it received mixed reviews.

Taylor Swift arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Cops threatened to force arrested criminals to listen to Taylor Swift’s new release on loop Credit: FilmMagic
People Taylor Swift
Taylor re-released her Life of a Showgirl album with four new songs last week Credit: AP

They posted: “Those who are arrested tonight will be required to listen to Taylor Swift’s new songs on repeat.”

But following a huge online backlash, the force later wrote: “We apologise for stirring up the Taylor bots.

“Please continue to listen to The Life of a Showgirl.”

But the post remains up on X with more than 80,000 likes.

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Cruel Summer singer Swift, 36, re-released her Life of a Showgirl album with four new songs last week, adding “The Encore” to the title.

But critics were not impressed.

Music magazine Pitchfork rated it 4/10, saying: “Taylor Swift has let the quality of her songwriting slide in favour of commercial domination.”

Critic Shaad D’Souza added: “Yes, Taylor Swift will always have one of the greatest songwriting catalogues of all time.

“Not even Taylor Swift could take that away from her — but she sure is trying.”

The album came out in 2025 as the first release since the end of her record-breaking Eras Tour, but failed to win acclaim.

Swift previously said she did not intend to add new tracks, but later admitted she went on a trip with her collaborators and “did what we do when we feel anything: we wrote more songs”.

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