Even if Liverpool are in a bad place and are winless in eight games, they are not to be taken lightly and could be bad news to Arsenal if underrated. Against The Reds, One position where the Gunners will need to be at their best is on defence.
Arsenal’s defence is capable, but there are doubts about its strength without William Saliba, who has missed the last few games after picking up an injury when Sporting Lisbon eliminated them from the Europa League.
Saliba has been the real deal in Arsenal’s defence, and the way he makes it block solid alongside Gabriel Magalhaes cannot be overlooked. Meanwhile, Rob Holding has been filling in for Saliba. He has been decent; after the Leeds 4-1 win, Just Arsenal‘s Peter Doherty rated his performance a 7.5 over 10. Doherty argues, “The trepidation that followed the news that Saliba was injured was justified, but Holding has been superb since stepping into the Frenchman’s role. Showed great authority when stepping forward to claim some long balls from Leeds and demonstrated composure throughout.”
Mikel Arteta already hinted we can trust Holding earlier this season when he said, “Rob in particular has been exceptional.
“He’s always there the way he trains. When you need him for 15 or 20 minutes to close a game, he’s always been there and available.”
Holding is unlikely to be a player Arteta will want to offload in the summer. So I guess if Saliba is still unavailable against Liverpool, we should trust Holding to do well. If Arteta is happy, so am I.
Darren N
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