Martin Odegaard ranked among Arsenal's best performers but Kieran Tierney position surprises

Arsenal are pushing ahead with their chase of a qualification spot for the Champions League and are considered one of the favourites to finish in the Premier League’s top four this season.

Prediction algorithms from FiveThirtyEight have given Arsenal more than three times the chance of both Manchester United and Tottenham to finish inside the top four spots. Mikel Arteta strengthened his side in the summer with six additions and they have all had an impact.

However, the squad has not been perfect, and some mistakes have cost Arsenal this season in a number of matches such as the 3-2 away defeat at Old Trafford to Manchester United. The baffling loss to Everton and even the 2-2 home draw with Crystal Palace.

Chris Davison and I discussed on The Arsenal Way the player ratings that we would have awarded all the members of the first-team squad for their performances so far.

Despite having strong views, the overall opinion was shared very similarly throughout the squad but there were some standout low and high scores relative to what we have come to expect from much of this current crop.

For example, my rating for Kieran Tierney was below what I would rank him for the performances seen in the previous two campaigns and for good reason.

I said, “Kieran Tierney, I gave him a seven. I don’t think it has been his best season so far and I gave him a seven.”

Chris agreed to say, “Yeah same here, spot on. He hasn’t been able to live up to the standards that we would usually associate with him. We have since he came through the doors at Arsenal, think about how consistent he is and how dangerous he is every game.

“But we haven’t been saying that as much this season and he’s gone under the radar a few times. Been a bit quieter than