Is Gabriel and Saliba the strongest CB partnership in the EPL?
Arsenal are off to a great start to the season, unbeaten in the last eleven games, Arteta has got us playing like a well-oiled machine. After tinkering a bit at the start of the season, Arteta looks to have gone with what he knows has and will work in defence and has reverted to playing the centre back pairing of Gabriel and William Saliba.
After we had arguably one of our most impressive campaign’s in years last season, where we sat at the top of the league for the majority of it, Arsenal fans would have been expecting Arteta to keep the same defence that managed to get us so far, but Arteta being the type of manager he is, had to experiment a bit, but after the injuries of Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber, Arteta looked to revert back to what we all knew and loved to see last season.
Since the victory against Manchester United, they’ve looked solid. Picking up right where they left off last season. With a partnership that feels like something that comes naturally to them. Always reading each other’s game, and it looks like they can almost telepathically predict what each other’s next move will be, making them the perfect partnership to command and keep our backline strong.
Since making the change, we’ve managed to walk away with five clean sheets and winning all six games they’ve started together in. With both players keeping our backline compact and almost impossible to get past, we’ve looked dangerous in defence. Declan Rice has been playing just in front of them and I think that’s also added to the way they’re playing, with a sense of security in front them, they look to be playing comfortably and almost better than last season.
With a lot of games to come, injury worries are always looming, and both had their troubles last season, both missing several games. Saliba missing 12 games due to a back injury and Gabriel missing 3 games due to a knee injury. Arsenal fans will be praying we don’t see anything like that this season. They’ve both built such a solid partnership that if one was to get injured, I think it would really impact the style of football we have been playing lately.
Not losing a game together yet, Gabriel and Saliba are looking to be the strongest pairing in the premier league this season, so far. A partnership that Arsenal fans will be hoping we continue to see throughout the season. Arteta clearly trusts them and personally, I think they’ve now proved they can be trusted. Let’s hope it’s set in stone.
What’s your thoughts Gooners? How happy have you been with our CB’s so far?
Daisy Mae
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