With William Saliba, Arteta can comfortably deal with Manchester City’s threat, says Wayne Rooney.
Rooney, a Manchester United legend, believes that Arsenal defender William Saliba is the only Arsenal defender who can stop Haaland. Since joining Manchester City from Dortmund, the striker has proved unstoppable for Premier League defenders. He has already scored more than 40 goals in all competitions for the Cityzens. The Gunners go to the Etihad Stadium this Wednesday for a title-deciding encounter with the defending champions. As things stand, even after three consecutive Premier League draws, Arsenal is still at the top of the table, five points clear of Manchester City.
Even yet, Arsenal’s top-of-the-table position is under threat, as Manchester City has two games in hand, and if they win both, they will be at the top of the table for the first time in a long time. In any case, Arsenal can still hold on to first place by beating Manchester City this week and not losing or drawing the remaining games. One could argue that in order to beat City, they must devise a strategy to stop Erling Haaland. Rooney feels Arsenal, if William Saliba was in defence, would have had a chance to halt the Manchester City No.9.
“How do they stop Erling Haaland? With William Saliba injured, there’s no prospect of matching his pace and power individually, and the only way is to go out and try to impose their own game,” said Rooney to the Times.
Aside from halting Haaland, it is worth mentioning the England great is emphasising Arsenal’s offence must be at its best to break down the Manchester City defenders by utilising stars such as Saka, Jesus, Trossard, and Gabriel Martinelli.
“Arsenal should focus on how to expose those City defenders rather than focus too much on Haaland. The mindset needs to be: nobody thought we’d be here, and now we’re playing for the title, so let’s go and take it,” added Rooney. “City can be vulnerable when you hit them in the transition, and you saw it against Bayern Munich, particularly when Leroy Sane should have scored after Bayern won possession and broke on them.
“These are the opportunities you can get against City, and Arsenal have the players to capitalise in a way that Bayern didn’t — the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, and Gabriel Jesus.”
The game between Manchester City and Arsenal will be decided by how well each team defends, and hopefully, Arteta will have Saliba available.
Paul Hays
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