William Saliba was back to his best against Sheffield United
|Arsenal defender William Saliba was back to his best during the 5-0 Premier League win over Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon.
The Frenchman had a mixed performance against Chelsea in the last league outing. He was guilty of conceding an unfortunate penalty for the opening goal.
He made amends with a solid display against Sevilla in midweek and he was brilliant once again today.
Saliba had a stunning 133 touches, completing 122 out of his 127 passes. The Frenchman had no defensive work to do as he controlled the proceedings.
The 22-year-old had a different central defensive partner in Jakub Kiwior, but that had no influence on him as he nullified the opposition to zero shots on goal.
Eddie Nketiah was undoubtedly the man of the match after his first-ever senior hat-trick, but they were plenty of other positives from the victory over the Blades.
The defence kept a comfortable clean sheet after the tough outing at Stamford Bridge while there was better cohesion in attack for the Gunners after the interval.
The Gunners were obviously favourites to beat Paul Heckingbottom’s side, but these were the type of games where they failed to get over the line last season.
The club dropped four points against 20th-placed Southampton last term, but there was no such concern against the Blades as they dominated from the beginning.
With the victory, the club have moved within two points off leaders Tottenham Hotspur. They are currently second in the table and will face Newcastle United next in the league on the road.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com