Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard helped Arsenal to a crucial 2-0 win against Aston Villa on Saturday evening at Villa Park.
Only two games in and you can call this a statement victory for Mikel Arteta’s men.
Aston Villa beat Arsenal twice last season, so it was paramount they proved that they had learned their lesson.
From Bukayo Saka to David Raya, they helped Arsenal secure a statement three points and a clean sheet, whilst riding their luck thanks to some very poor finishing from Ollie Watkins, and ensuring they have made a 100% start to the new season.
Raya is going to make the headlines again for his quite ridiculous save to deny Watkins from close-blank range when the scores were still 0-0 in the second half.
But captain Odegaard and midfield machine Rice were keen to laud and applaud another one of their teammates.
Arsenal had the best defence in the Premier League last season, conceding only 29 goals, and they are yet to concede after two matches.
It’s obvious that it’s going to take a lot to try and get past this Arsenal’s defence and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they repeat last season’s feat.
One man who has been Mr Consistent for the Gunners is their rising 23-year-old star Saliba because he is probably the best defender in the Premier League right now.
From how he reads danger to his last-ditch tackle to deny Jacob Ramsey when he went through one-v-one, the Frenchman was one of the best players on the pitch at Villa Park.
After the game, Rice and Odegaard, along with many others, lauded and applauded the ’sensational’ Saliba in the comments section of his Instagram post.
William Saliba’s performance against Aston Villa
“Big team performance. Thank you, Gooners,” wrote Saliba.
Odegaard applauded the France international and simply posted ‘wow’, whilst the Arsenal fans told him that he is a ‘Rolls Royce’ defender.
Rice added that Saliba was ’sensational’, with Jurrien Timber also impressed and Gabriel sending him heart emojis.
Who is the best defender in the Premier League?
Virgil van Dijk could leave Liverpool next summer and you feel Saliba could then sit on top of the throne if the Dutchman departs.
Yes, at this moment, the Arsenal man is the best-performing centre-back in the league, but van Dijk has the pedigree and trophies from recent years.
Arsenal’s depth at the back has got stronger and only makes life more difficult for their opponents.
Arsenal signed Riccardo Calafiori and he is one of several players, alongside Ben White, Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu who can play at centre-half.
