Jamie Redknapp hails 'irreplaceable' player as Arsenal remain Premier League leaders

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp (Picture: Getty)

Jamie Redknapp believes one Arsenal player proved they were ‘irreplaceable’ as Mikel Arteta ’s side beat Fulham to remain top of the Premier League .

The Gunners produced yet another solid defensive display on the road, while Leandro Trossard ’s goal in the 58th minute was enough to secure the win at Craven Cottage.

The hard-fought victory ensures that Arsenal will remain top of the table come the end of the weekend, and they could well have a three-point lead should Liverpool slip up against Manchester United.

Fulham have often proved a bogey team for Arsenal in recent years, with the north London side recording just one win from their last four meetings against Marco Silva ’s side prior to Saturday.

And in what proved another tricky encounter, Redknapp singled out Bukayo Saka for praise after his noteworthy display, which ultimately helped his side get over the line.

‘Don’t get me wrong, of course, they’ve got players who can play on that side but he is the man,’ said Redknapp said about Saka on Sky Sports.

‘And that’s what I’m talking about when I talk about being a leader today.

Mikel Arteta’s side made it five wins in a row with victory over Fulham (Picture: Getty)

‘He’s not a Tony Adams as a captain but he took the game by the scruff of the neck today when the team was struggling and they didn’t quite have that flow and he grew into the game.

‘As the game went on he just started to win his individual battle. He was fabulous today.’

‘I feel that if they can keep him fit then that’s going to be a massive key for them. Obviously, there are other [important] players; Saliba, Gabriel.

Bukayo Saka delivered an impressive display at Craven Cottage (Picture: Getty)

‘But Saka just feels irreplaceable.’

Speaking after his impressive performance, Saka told Sky Sports: ‘This season we’ve beaten Newcastle, who we’ve struggled against in the past away, West Ham as well, who we had problems with at home, and now Fulham away, we’ve struggled with, so it’s points that we’ve been picking up that in recent seasons they’ve been picking up, so we’re happy with us as well.

‘It was a tough start to the game, but in my mind, it’s like I just want to get the ball and make things happen, and even if I miss one, I miss two, I’m going to keep going and I grew into the game and I thought I had a good performance in there, which I’m happy with.

Meanwhile, Arteta was keen to praise his side for their gutsy win, which extended their winning streak to five matches in all competitions.

‘The recent history wasn’t in our favour and we wanted to change that like we did against Newcastle and West Ham at home and that’s another step, having that mindset and that ability to win these kinds of matches against a really good opposition, a really difficult place to come,’ he said.

‘And especially the first 10 to 15 minutes, it took us a while to get into the game with some very unusual giveaways that has caused some transitions and after that we started to dominate the game throughout the rest of the game much better.

‘We talked about knocking on the door against this team, they are really well organised, especially with the context of the result. The more it dragged on, I think we were better and better and managed to win the game and another clean sheet.’