Saliba a totem of calm in Arsenal's formidable defence

William Saliba was the width of the centre circle away from Jacob Ramsey when the midfielder was sent through on goal late on at Villa Park. Somehow, though, he made up the ground, reeling him in in front of an expectant Holte End to brilliantly block his shot.

The fist-pumping Arsenal celebrations that followed typified a “love for defending” highlighted by Mikel Arteta in conversation with Sky Sports in March. Such reactions are encouraged, he explained, “so that defensive actions are valued as much as attacking ones.”

Arsenal certainly needed that level of defensive commitment on Saturday. Not just in the closing stages, after Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey’s goals, but earlier in the half, when their box was under siege and the stadium crackled with anticipation.

Arsenal were, of course, indebted to David Raya for his sensational save from Ollie Watkins during that period. Trossard’s opener, scored with his first touch after coming off the bench, was crucial too. But it was Saliba who held it all together, as he so often does.

Last weekend’s win over Wolves had brought an uncharacteristic error, his errant pass almost gifting Matheus Cunha a goal. But, with his sharpness restored by another week of training following a short pre-season, this was the French international at his best.

In an often-frantic game, against an opponent, the only opponent, who beat Arsenal twice in the Premier League last year, Saliba was a totem of calm, touching the ball more times than any other player on the pitch and completing all but one of his 88 passes.

As others erred in the feverish atmosphere, rushing passes, miscontrolling under pressure, or, in the case of his centre-back partner Gabriel, being dispossessed deep in Arsenal territory for a golden chance Watkins should have buried, Saliba was unaffected.

The stunning last-ditch challenge to deny Ramsey was one of numerous defensive interventions which caught the eye. Saliba made more tackles and more clearances than any of his team-mates over the course of the game. Nobody on either side won more duels.

His speed and physicality were needed against Watkins. “If they [Villa] put the ball in our last line and you’re man to man, you better be physical because it has to go our way,” smiled Arteta afterwards. But there is intelligence to Saliba’s game as well as brute force.

At times, he intervened without even needing to make a challenge, nudging Watkins aside from a long pass before ducking under the ball to let it run through to Raya, then nonchalantly stepping onto a Morgan Rogers cut-back as if it was a pass from a team-mate.

Despite the one-on-one prowess of Rogers and Leon Bailey in Villa’s attack, and the driving runs of Amadou Onana from midfield, Saliba was not dribbled past once. Although that is not unusual.

In fact, Saliba has only been beaten 11 times in 67 games since he made his Premier League debut for Arsenal two years ago.

It works out as only 0.16 instances of being dribbled past per 90 minutes. Since the start of the 2022/23 season, no Premier League defender, not even Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, can beat that.

It is hardly surprising, given his quality, that Arsenal have come to lean on him so heavily. Their outstanding defensive record last season was of course a collective effort. But Saliba’s contribution, as their only player to play every minute of the campaign, was huge.

Their reliance on him proved costly in the season before that, when a back injury caused him to miss Arsenal’s final 11 Premier League games of the campaign and their title challenge collapsed.

Their record with and without him highlights his importance. Arsenal’s win rate drops from 76.1 per cent to 45.5 per cent when he is unavailable. They concede twice as many goals and allow their opponents roughly 30 per cent more touches in their box.

Even as Saliba shone so brightly at Villa Park on Saturday, though, there was encouragement, in the form of two new faces in Arsenal’s defence, that their reliance on him may now be eased.

Jurrien Timber, impressive at left-back after injury ruined his first season at Arsenal, is a natural centre-back who looks a high-calibre alternative. So too does summer signing Riccardo Calafiori, who appeared from the bench to make his Premier League bow.

“I like what Timber did,” said Sky Sports’ Gary Neville on the Gary Neville Podcast. “Leon Bailey is a difficult customer to play against and I thought he did a good job. And Calafiori, when he came on, looked combative, really strong and up for the fight.”

Like Saliba, and indeed his centre-back partner Gabriel, both Timber and Calafiori are capable dominating opponents physically. They have the versatility to play at full-back but also give Arsenal a level of centre-back depth to rival that of title rivals Manchester City.

“Pep Guardiola has completely transformed his team from being diminutive to being a team of giants and Mikel Arteta has responded,” added Neville. “They were put under real pressure from set-pieces in those last 25 minutes and they handled it really well. They are a powerhouse team now.

“When you’re playing against a really top team and you need to keep a clean sheet, you need to make sure you’ve got someone who can defend at the back post, and you need to make sure that on set-pieces you’ve got six big’uns. Arteta has got that now.”

Most importantly, though, he has got Saliba, a player who typifies that physical dominance and whose performance at Villa Park was a reminder that he has cool-headedness and composure to match. Even with Timber and Calafiori sharing the load, expect Saliba to continue leading Arsenal’s defensive celebrations.