Ainsley Maitland-Niles is making serious waves at Arsenal under manager Arsene Wenger and after a fantastic performance against Southampton, Gunners fans here in the pub are feeling even more optimistic about his future!

The 19-year-old defender, who has played in midfielder and as a winger during his years in the Arsenal academy, shone in the 5-0 demolition of the Saints on Saturday evening and his performance brought some stark comparisons to some real Gunners legends.

Whilst some of the Arsenal fans lining the bar think it’s a bit too early to start putting too much pressure on the youngster’s shoulders, there are others who would like to see him fast-tracked into the first-team as quickly as possible.

But after such a promising performance, the name and comparison that keeps cropping up here in the Tavern is Lee Dixon and whether Maitland-Niles could be that calibre of player.

It’s got us and everyone here in the pub thinking, and here’s THREE reasons why we think Maitland-Niles could be as good Lee Dixon in the next few years…

Defensively, he looks solid

If you ask many Arsenal fans what Maitland-Niles’ key strengths are on the pitch, you’ll be hard-pressed to find many that don’t refer to his ability going forward.

But defensively, in the game against Southampton, the youngster was seriously solid as he won back possession time-and-time again, sometimes, with very relative ease indeed.

Defenders, at heart, need to be good at defending and the Gunners contingent here in the pub are delighted he’s showing signs of being strong at the back.

He showed real control when on the ball

Maturity is often something that crops up when we refer to young footballers just coming into the first-team at any big side and Maitland-Niles showed bags of it in the win over Southampton.

He controlled possession whenever he was given it by his colleagues and he also distributed it very well indeed too.

He’s looking more and more a complete player, let alone a defender.