Arsene Wenger has heaped praise on Arsenal’s youngsters after they helped the Gunners secure a 4-2 away victory over BATE Borisov in the Europa League on Thursday.

The victory has helped the north Londoners move into complete control of Group H and they have now scored seven goals in their opening two matches of the tournament.

A brace from Theo Walcott and further strikes from Rob Holding and Olivier Giroud helped Wenger’s men secure the victory in Belarus, but it was the young players who featured in the match that the Frenchman singled out for particular praise – with the likes of Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson featuring from the start.

“Joe Willock did well, Reiss Nelson did well, they all did well,” Wenger said.

“The main reason is because they have quality, but also because they are well guided and surrounded by people at the back in Per Mertesacker and [Shkodran] Mustafi who guide them well. That’s very important at that level.”

Ainsley Maitland-Niles also started the match at the Borisov Arena, while Edward Nketiah and Marcus McGuane came on as late substitutes, with Wenger continuing to take the opportunity to experiment with his team in Europe.

The Gunners will return to Premier League action on Sunday when they play host to Brighton at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal are unbeaten in their last six matches in all competitions, winning five of those games, and they are priced at 1.25 to secure another victory on Sunday, while Brighton are available at 12.00 and the draw is on offer at 6.00.