When Gabriel slammed home our equaliser against Bournemouth, he became just our second defender to net more than 20 goals in Premier League history.
Our Brazilian centre-back has made a habit of finding big goals since arriving from Lille in September 2020, with his latest effort helping us on our way to a 3-2 win over the Cherries.
rising above the rest
---------------------
Since making his debut against Fulham back in 2020, no defender in the Premier League has scored more goals than our No.6. Gabi's scoring habits kicked off on his debut at Craven Cottage, netting in the 49th minute to make it 2-0 in west London.
His most prolific season came in 2021/22, when he netted five Premier League goals, including winners at Wolves in February and at West Ham United in May.
PL goals by defenders since 2020/21
**Player**
**Goals**
Gabriel
20
Michael Keane
13
Trent Alexander-Arnold
12
Virgil van Dijk
12
Fabian Schar
12
Kurt Zouma
11
Josko Gvardiol
11
Indeed, winning goals have become a big part of Big Gabi's armoury since his arrival. The international has netted nine winning goals across his five-and-a-half seasons, with his most recent against Newcastle United in September 2025.
Only seven defenders have scored more match-winning goals, including former Gunners Laurent Koscielny, William Gallas and two-time Premier League winner, Sol Campbell.
Winning goals by Premier League centre-backs
**Player**
**Winners**
John Terry
18
Ugo Ehiogu
11
William Gallas
11
Sol Campbell
10
Gary Cahill
10
Phil Jagielka
10
Laurent Koscielny
10
Gabriel
9
king of brazil
--------------
When it comes to South American defenders, none come close to the contributions of Big Gabriel in front of goal.
Gabi's 20 goals make him comfortably the highest scoring Brazilian defender in Premier League history - with former Gunner David Luiz the second highest with 14 (three of those coming in his two seasons in N5).
In terms of Brazilians in all positions, Gabi sits behind 12 players - including teammates Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli.
All-time Brazilian Premier League top scorers
**Player**
**Goals**
Roberto Firmino
82
Gabriel Jesus
77
Richarlison
71
Willian
47
Philippe Coutinho
47
Gabriel Martinelli
41
Matheus Cunha
33
Juninho Paulista
29
João Pedro
28
Bruno Guimarães
28
Joelinton
23
Oscar
21
Gabriel
20
bond with bukayo
----------------
It can come as no surprise to see that Big Gabi's goals have predominantly come from corners or set pieces. That means the Brazilian has got on the end of a host of crosses, with Bukayo Saka the main provider for Gabi's goals.
Bukayo has assisted six of Gabriel's 20 goals in the Premier League. Declan Rice, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard and Willian have all assisted Gabi on two occasions. Alexandre Lacazette, Cedric Soares, Leandro Trossard and William Saliba have also chipped in to tee up our Brazilian centre-half.
In terms of favourite opposition, West Ham United and Fulham stand out from the rest. Gabi has netted three times against each of the London clubs. He is now just two off Laurent Koscielny's record as our all-time leading defender in Premier League history. The Frenchman netted 22 times in his nine seasons in N5 - will Gabi catch Laurent in 25/26?
Our top scoring defenders in PL history
**Defenders**
**Goals**
Laurent Koscielny
22
Gabriel
20
Thomas Vermaelen
13
William Gallas
12
Tony Adams
12
Kolo Toure
9
Lee Dixon
9
Hector Bellerin
8
Ashley Cole
8
Sol Campbell
8
Copyright 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.