{"id":295678,"date":"2023-10-09T13:26:11","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T13:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=295678"},"modified":"2023-10-09T13:26:11","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T13:26:11","slug":"is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.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 <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295677,"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? - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is William Saliba the best defender in the Premier League? - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"William Saliba kept goal-machine Erling Haaland quiet during Man City&#8217;s trip to Arsenal and has yet to be dribbled past &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-09T13:26:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dennis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Is-William-Saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-Premier-League.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dennis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/\",\"name\":\"Is William Saliba the best defender in the Premier League? - Sportstons\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-09T13:26:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-09T13:26:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Soccer\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/category\/soccer\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Is William Saliba the best defender in the Premier League?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sportstons\",\"description\":\"sportstons.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"Dennis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dennis\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is William Saliba the best defender in the Premier League? - Sportstons","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is William Saliba the best defender in the Premier League? - Sportstons","og_description":"William Saliba kept goal-machine Erling Haaland quiet during Man City&#8217;s trip to Arsenal and has yet to be dribbled past &hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/","og_site_name":"Sportstons","article_published_time":"2023-10-09T13:26:11+00:00","author":"Dennis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Is-William-Saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-Premier-League.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dennis","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/","url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/","name":"Is William Saliba the best defender in the Premier League? - Sportstons","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-10-09T13:26:11+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-09T13:26:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/is-william-saliba-the-best-defender-in-the-premier-league\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Soccer","item":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/category\/soccer\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Is William Saliba the best defender in the Premier League?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/","name":"Sportstons","description":"sportstons.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"Dennis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dennis"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295678"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}