{"id":294167,"date":"2023-10-09T13:26:17","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T13:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/?p=294167"},"modified":"2023-10-09T13:26:17","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T13:26:17","slug":"is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Is William Saliba the best defender in the Premier League?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>William Saliba kept goal-machine Erling Haaland quiet during Man City&#8217;s trip to Arsenal and has yet to be dribbled past this season&#8230; but is the Gunners star the BEST defender in the Premier League?<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>William Saliba marshalled Man City&#8217;s Erling Haaland expertly during their clash\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Norwegian forward barely had a sniff up against the Arsenal centre-back\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast &#8216;It&#8217;s All Kicking Off!&#8217;\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On Sunday afternoon, Manchester City star Erling Haaland was given a healthy reminder that he is, in fact, human.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Norwegian striker, who netted 36 goals from 35 Premier League appearances last term, failed to muster a single shot on target during their 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While many could suggest it was the absence of Kevin De Bruyne in the City line-up that caused Haaland to go missing, others would point to the work of William Saliba.<\/p>\n<p>The Arsenal centre-half put in a truly dominant display as he marshalled Haaland throughout the match and helped the Gunners secure a clean sheet.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And so, here, <span>Mail Sport<\/span> takes a look at the stunning statistics behind Saliba&#8217;s season and how he compares to the rest of the league&#8217;s best defenders.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/09\/12\/76330611-12609939-image-a-41_1696850873586.jpg\" height=\"451\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>William Saliba (top) put in a stellar performance during Arsenal&#8217;s 1-0 win over Man City<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/09\/12\/76330615-12609939-image-a-40_1696850639136.jpg\" height=\"444\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The France defender helped marshall City striker Erling Haaland (left) throughout the game<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>In Arsenal&#8217;s clash with City on Sunday afternoon, there had been much debate over the potential battle between City&#8217;s Haaland and Arsenal&#8217;s Saliba.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Many suggested that Haaland would struggle, given the absence of Kevin De Bruyne who has been sidelined since the start of August with a recurring injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And that proved to be true as, during the match at the Emirates, the Norwegian forward barely had a sniff at goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With just 23 touches during the match, Haaland failed to register a shot on the Arsenal goal as Saliba expertly marshalled him throughout the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There was one moment in particular which highlighted Saliba&#8217;s dominance in the game, as he brushed the City striker aside as he looked to burst in behind.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a moment that has since gone viral on social media, with many impressed by Saliba&#8217;s eye-catching performance on the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, the stats do well to suggest that it was a near-perfect afternoon for the former\u00a0Saint-\u00c9tienne central defender.<\/p>\n<p>Saliba managed to win 100 per cent of his duels, boasted a 97 per cent pass accuracy and failed to commit a single foul during the clash against Man City.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Man City managed just four shots on goal &#8211; which is the lowest tally in a Premier League match since Pep Guardiola&#8217;s arrival.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/09\/12\/76334643-12609939-image-a-54_1696851369937.jpg\" height=\"456\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Haaland, who scored 36 league goals last season, failed to register a single shot on target<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/09\/12\/76334645-12609939-image-a-43_1696850968252.jpg\" height=\"456\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old was closely watched by Arsenal&#8217;s Saliba (R) throughout the match<\/p>\n<p>Saliba&#8217;s importance to Arteta&#8217;s side was evident as he contained one the world&#8217;s most prolific strikers with ease &#8211; and his stats throughout the season will back it up.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The 22-year-old is one of the few defenders in the Premier League who is yet to be dribbled past by one of his opponents &#8211; a truly incredible statistic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And when comparing Saliba with some of his strongest counterparts in the league &#8211; such as Ruben Dias, Virgil van Dijk, Cristian Romero and Sven Botman &#8211; the Frenchman still stands out.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of passes attempted per match, the Arsenal star is only bested by City&#8217;s Dias &#8211; who&#8217;s tally of 648 just pips Saliba&#8217;s 636 passes.<\/p>\n<p>However, despite Dias&#8217; attempts, Saliba actually boasts a higher pass completion rate than the Portuguese international &#8211; having completed 94.34 per cent.<\/p>\n<p>Saliba has also won the second highest amount of duels out of those five defenders &#8211; with only Spurs&#8217; Romero besting him in that category.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The 22-year-old also narrowly loses out to Romero in terms of recoveries made this year &#8211; with the Spurs star&#8217;s tally of 45 just beating Saliba&#8217;s 43.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In fact, the World Cup winner leads the a number of statistics for Premier League centre-backs this season &#8211; such as duels won, aerial duels won, tackles and interceptions.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/09\/12\/76334677-12609939-image-a-50_1696851105815.jpg\" height=\"417\" width=\"306\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/09\/12\/76334679-12609939-image-m-49_1696851099001.jpg\" height=\"417\" width=\"306\"><\/p>\n<p>Saliba&#8217;s leads the way, ahead of Virgil van Dijk (L) and Ruben Dias (R), in a number of statistics<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/09\/12\/76334781-12609939-image-a-53_1696851213218.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Tottenham star Cristian Romero is one of the few defenders to challenge Saliba&#8217;s statistics<\/p>\n<p>Saliba&#8217;s impressive displays go beyond just individual statistics however, with his impact within the Arsenal team clear to see.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since August 2022, Arsenal have won 77 per cent of their Premier League games with Saliba. However, without Saliba, the win rate drops to 46 per cent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s no wonder that after Saliba picked up a back injury in March, Arsenal&#8217;s Premier League title charge soon started to fade away.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And, if Mikel Arteta is to have any hope of mounting another push fo the league title, it&#8217;s clear that their success will heavily rely upon the fitness of Saliba.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12609939\/William-Saliba-kept-goal-machine-Erling-Haaland-quiet-Man-Citys-trip-Arsenal-dribbled-past-season-Gunners-star-BEST-defender-Premier-League.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>William Saliba kept goal-machine Erling Haaland quiet during Man City&#8217;s trip to Arsenal and has yet to be dribbled past [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294166,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is William Saliba the best defender in the Premier League? 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