AFCLoanWatch – Guendouzi and Mavropanos on target

This is the first edition of TheAFCNewsroom’s Loan Watch. Check out how Arsenal’s players out on loan did over the weekend, plus we will give a small overview on the weeks prior as this is our first piece. 

Miguel Azeez (Portsmouth)

On Monday Portsmouth announced the season-long loan signing of promising Arsenal midfielder Miguel Azeez.

William Saliba (Marseille)

Saliba played 90 minutes as Marseille defeated his former side St Etienne 3-1 at home in Ligue 1. He was used on the right side of a back three with AS Roma loanee Cengiz Under playing in front of him and was matched up against former Sunderland winger Wahbi Khazri.

The centre-back’s SofaScore statistical rating for the match was 7.4 and he recorded 94 accurate passes (95.9% accuracy), 116 touches, five clearances, one tackle, one interception and was dribbled past zero times.

Prior to this weekend, Saliba had made two Ligue 1 appearances as OM defeated Montpellier 3-2 on matchday one and drew 2-2 against Bordeaux the following week. The 20-year-old did start in the Nice fixture last Sunday, but it was abandoned due to crowd trouble.

Matteo Guendouzi (Marseille)

Guendouzi scored the opening goal in the win against St Etienne, playing the full match on the left side of a midfield three.

His goal was a well taken finish inside the box, picking his spot, and drilling it past the goalkeeper at the front post.

He recorded 71 accurate passes (92.2%) and 96 touches, picking up a 7.2 match rating. The 22-year-old lost possession 13 times and was fouled on five occasions.

Before this weekend, he featured in the same Ligue 1 fixtures as Saliba, providing an assist in the Bordeaux draw.

Konstantinos Mavropanos (Stuttgart)

Mavropanos played 61 minutes as Stuttgart lost 3-2 at home to Freiburg in the Bundesliga. The Greek scored his team’s first goal. His key match up for the game was against Vincenzo Grifo.

He was dribbled past zero times, recorded two clearances, two interceptions and won one out of his four aerial duals. His match rating was 6.8.

This is Mavropanos’ second season in a row at Stuttgart, and previously this season he has featured in a 5-1 win against Greuther Furth (7.8 rating), a 4-0 loss at RB Leipzig and a 6-0 win at Berliner FC Dynamo in the DFB Pokal, in which he scored.

Tyreece John-Jules (Blackpool)

The young striker failed to become a hero as he was a late substitute in Blackpool’s 2-1 loss at Millwall; playing eight minutes.

John-Jules recorded one touch and failed to register a shot or win any of his duels in the defeat.

It is fair to take this with a pinch of salt, however, as anyone would struggle in these circumstances.

During the week he provided two assists in the Tangerines’ 3-2 loss against Sunderland in the EFL Cup.

Prior to Saturday’s match, TJJ had started in three of Blackpool’s four Championship matches but is yet to score a goal.

Daniel Ballard (Millwall)

Featuring in the same fixture but on the winning side, Ballard put in a solid performance at The Den, recording a 7.0 match rating on the right side of a back three. His opposition down Blackpool’s left side was Keshi Anderson and Shayne Lavery

Ballard completed 69 passes (83.1%), had 101 touches and won nine of out his 12 aerial duals in the Lions’ first league win of the season. He also had four interceptions, one clearance, one tackle and was dribbled past once. His wait for a first clean sheet goes on.

The ex-Blackpool loanee has played in all of Millwall’s Championship matches as his team have drawn two, lost two and won one. The 21-year-old also played 80 minutes in their 3-1 EFL Cup win against Cambridge United.

Matt Smith (Doncaster Rovers)

Smith played the full match in an attacking midfield role as Doncaster lost 2-0 against Rotherham.

He put in a solid performance in a disappointing day for Rovers, often being used as their outlet ball when playing out of defence. He had 68 touches, 48 accurate passes (82.8%) and one shot on target as he obtained a 6.6 rating.

Prior to this match, the 20-year-old played in three games, awaiting his first goal contribution and win with his new club.

Harry Clarke (Ross County)

Clarke played the full match as Ross County drew 1-1 against Aberdeen at Pittodrie Stadium.

He had a lot of defending to do as County scored in the first half, desperately trying to hold on to their lead. It wasn’t to be, though, as Aberdeen scored an 88^th minute equaliser.

Having said that, the 20-year-old had a colossal nine clearances and one blocked shot. He also won seven out of his nine duels.

He made his debut in County’s 3-0 loss against Hibernian, but did come on at half-time with the score how it finished. Clarke scored as his side lost 4-2 to Rangers last weekend.

Nikolaj Moller (Viktoria Koln)

Very highly rated within the club, Moller played 29 minutes as Viktoria Koln beat Freiburg II 3-1, his first match starting on the bench for the German 3.Liga side.

He led the line against SC Verl and FSV Zwickau previously this season but more notably got the nod against Hoffenheim in the DFB Pokal.

He played 59 minutes against the Bundesliga club, winning half of his duels but failing to register a single shot. Koln lost the match 3-2 in extra-time. He is still awaiting his first goal contribution for his new team.

Deyan Iliev (SKF Sered)

Iliev kept a clean sheet and picked up a yellow card as Sered drew 0-0 against AS Trencin.

The 26-year-old has joined the club as their No.1 goalkeeper and has made five appearances in total now for the Slovakian top flight outfit. Iliev has conceded five goals in these matches.

Jordi Osei-Tutu (Nottingham Forest)

Osei-Tutu did not play for Forest this weekend after picking up an injury against Blackburn Rovers on the 18^th.

The player started in left-back against Blackburn and Bournemouth before his injury.

He is a relatively injury prone player, missing the majority of last season whilst on loan at Cardiff City. We wish Jordi a speedy recovery.

Lucas Torreira (Fiorentina)

Torreira was an unused substitute for Fiorentina this weekend as he only completed his move to the Serie A club on Wednesday. They won 2-1 against Torino.

Tom Smith (Welling United)

Smith has only featured once for Welling this term, against Bromley in a 2-1 friendly defeat earlier this month.

He is currently injured and missed their 5-0 loss to St Albans City.