Mikel Arteta praises Arsenal defensive trio after Liverpool draw

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta heaped praise on Declan Rice, Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba following the 1-1 Premier League draw against Liverpool on the road.

The Gunners started off brightly at Anfield on Saturday evening. They deservedly raced into 1-0 lead after a quality header from Magalhaes from a Martin Odegaard cross.

Mohamed Salah levelled the proceedings for the hosts in the 29th minute, but they were unable to find the winner in the second half after a strong defensive showing from Arsenal.

The club were lucky not to concede in a 5 v 1 situation for the Reds but other than that, they had the Reds’ attack at bay with only three shots on target over 90 minutes.

Speaking after the game, Arteta was pleased with the team as a whole but was appreciative over the performances of Gabriel, Saliba and Rice. He said that the trio were phenomenal.

He told Arsenal.com: “Those three were phenomenal but I think the whole team as well and how we step up to the level that they put today, is one of the best Liverpool’s I’ve seen this year.”

“They made life really difficult. The game became really, really chaotic, the crowd provokes that as well but we handled the situation really well.”

Arsenal trio stand out against Liverpool

Saliba was undoubtedly the man of the match against Liverpool yesterday. The Frenchman won 100 per cent of his aerial duels and was very composed with his decision-making.

Magalhaes also delivered alongside the Frenchman in the heart of the defence. He scored his first league goal of the campaign and made an impressive seven clearances over 90 minutes.

Rice also had another good game. He had to play more cautiously after his yellow card but still had a passing accuracy of 88 per cent and relieved some of the pressure on the backline.

The Gunners simply need to keep the €245 million-rated trio fit for the rest of the campaign if they want to go all the way and win the Premier League title for the first time in two decades.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com