MX23RW : Thursday, December 5 02:26:40| >> :120:13674:13674:

Calum Chambers: 'Arsenal are seeing the best of Nicolas Pepe'

Calum Chambers: 'Arsenal are seeing the best of Nicolas Pepe'
© Reuters
Nicolas Pepe has scored 16 goals this term.

Arsenal supporters will see the best of club-record signing Nicolas Pepe next season, according to team-mate Calum Chambers.

Pepe scored twice as the Gunners beat Brighton 2-0 on the final day of the Premier League campaign.

The win was not enough to seal European football for Arsenal, who finished eighth for the second year in a row.

But the 10,000 returning fans at the Emirates Stadium were treated to two well-taken second-half goals as Pepe continued a fine run of form.

The Ivory Coast winger has divided opinion since his £72million move from Lille in August 2019 but has lately answered the call of manager Mikel Arteta to show greater consistency in his game.

Pepe ended the campaign with 16 goals and has notched nine times in his last 13 Premier League starts.

Asked if Pepe can be at his best next season, Chambers replied: "Yes.

"I think he's on good form at the minute and he's been playing really well and scoring good goals and his confidence is high.

Calum Chambers, pictured, played on the right flank along with Nicolas Pepe in Arsenal's win over Brighton
Calum Chambers, pictured, played on the right flank along with Nicolas Pepe in Arsenal's win over Brighton. (Neil Hall/PA)

"We've seen that all along and we've known the quality that he's had and it's just really nice to see him show everyone else what he can do.

"(His performance was) brilliant. He was covering me defensively, which is amazing.

"I think he's improved a lot, he's a great player and we've seen it from the start in the first day of training, we've seen his quality, and I think now he's really starting to show everyone what he can do. We're all delighted for him."

Chambers also admitted the season had not turned out the way Arsenal would have liked, with no silverware to soften the blow of a poor league campaign.

"Obviously very disappointing," he told arsenal.com when asked about missing out on European qualification.

"I think we are disappointed with the season as a whole, it's not where we wanted to finish and be.

"Obviously we need to focus on that next season and we need to change, but despite that we've finished the season strong, so there's some motives to take into next season.

"We will take the momentum with how we've finished the league and take that into the start of next season."

Arsenal's fifth straight league win was a fairly comfortable one as Brighton offered little in the way of attacking intent.

Lewis Dunk was unable to steer Brighton to a second successive Premier League win at Arsenal.
Lewis Dunk was unable to steer Brighton to a second successive Premier League win at Arsenal (Neil Hall/PA)

The Seagulls went into the game on the back of a surprise victory over champions Manchester City just five days earlier and skipper Lewis Dunk felt those exertions played a part in an insipid display in north London.

"We weren't good enough in the first half, maybe a little bit better second," he said.

"That's one of the only performances where we haven't been at it this season and it's frustrating.

"The boys put a lot of effort into the game on Tuesday, but we weren't at it on Sunday."

ID:448854:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect7634:
Written by
P A

Click here for more stories about Nicolas Pepe

Click here for more stories about Arsenal

Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
Manchester City's Sergio Aguero is thrown in the air by teammates as they celebrate winning the Premier League after his last match at the Etihad Stadium as a Manchester City player on May 23, 2021
Read Next:
PL Team of the Week - Aguero, Mane, Bale
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free daily transfer newsletter! Sent twice a day during the transfer window.
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool14112129111835
2Chelsea1484231151628
3Arsenal1484228141428
4Manchester CityMan City148242519626
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton136522217523
6Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest146441616022
7Aston Villa146442223-122
8Tottenham HotspurSpurs1362528141420
9Brentford146262726120
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle145541717020
11Manchester UnitedMan Utd145451715219
12Fulham135441818019
13Bournemouth135352019118
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham144371827-915
15Everton143561421-714
16Leicester CityLeicester143471928-913
17Crystal Palace142661218-612
18Ipswich TownIpswich141671325-129
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves142392236-149
20Southampton1412111130-195


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!