Arsenal are looking like Premier League title favourites at the moment. As things stand, the Gunners are four points clear at the top of the table and are showing no signs of slowing down or being chased down by Liverpool, Man City or Chelsea.
In particular, one aspect of the Gunners’ game has stood out – their seemingly impenetrable defence, which has held firm even under the heaviest of pressure this season.
William Saliba and Gabriel have both been outstanding so far this season. Today, we’re going to give them the spotlight and analyse why they’ve been so great thus far in 2025/26.
William Saliba & Gabriel vs other top Premier League centre back pairings in 2025/26
Combined stats Games Goals vs Clearances Blocks
Saliba & Gabriel 7 2 83 19
van Dijk & Konate 9 14 139 17
Romero & van de Ven 7 5 57 15
Botman & Thiaw 5 4 60 17
Acheampong & Chalobah 4 6 60 18
How do Saliba & Gabriel compliment each other?
In many ways, both Saliba and Gabriel are complete centre-backs. They do not need someone at the side of them to cover up their weaknesses – instead, by being paired with another world-class defender, they are each allowed to showcase their strengths without any sort of restrictions.
Saliba is often called upon to sweet up dangerous through balls, while Gabriel is more of a last-ditch centre-back with a fearless attitude. They compliment each other brilliantly from attacking set-pieces – Saliba usually marks the goalkeeper, while Gabriel runs onto the ball when it is lofted into the box.
Additionally, they are also flanked by a pair of brilliant full-backs in Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori. Both physically imposing players themselves, they cut out any dangerous diagonal balls before they can trouble Saliba and Gabriel down the flanks.
All in all, their efforts have helped Arsenal to keep a very stern defensive record in the Premier League so far this season. As things stand, the Gunners have the strongest defence from across all of the top five leagues in Europe – they have let in just three goals in the current campaign.
Can Arsenal maintain their position if Saliba or Gabriel are injured?
Of course, some may question how Arsenal will get on if Saliba or Gabriel suffers an injury – but they have excellent quality in depth at the back this season.
Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie have both been more than adequate when called upon to deputise. Particularly, Mosquera looks to be a very shrewd piece of business – he was snapped up for just £13 million and has been very impressive during his cameo appearances. At just 21, the sky is the limit for the Valencia academy graduate.
Furthermore, the likes of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ben White are both very strong replacements for Timber and Calafiori, should the Gunners suffer injuries to either of their first team full-backs.
On top of this, Arsenal’s defence benefits from an indomitable midfield screen. Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice are very active – not to mention intelligent – defensive midfielders who never allow teams to play through them. Additionally, while currently injured, Martin Odegaard also displays underrated defensive traits – his work rate off the ball is phenomenal.