Arsenal have had a stoic defence for the past couple of years. With Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba at the helm, last season Arsenal went on to win the league, with the centre-back duo leading the line with 68 clean sheets together and 34 goal and assist contributions. However, during the World Cup, William Saliba picked up an injury in the semi-final against Spain, which has ruled him out till around mid-November.
### How long will Saliba out for?
Since Saliba’s injury, this has left a gap in the defensive line next to Gabriel, which begs the question: Who would be best to fit next to Gabriel? The options to cover the void left by Saliba are Cristhian Mosquera. Piero Hincapie and Ezri Konsa, so let's look at who is the best fit to cover that gap.The first name to consider as a partner for Gabriel is new signing Ezri Konsa, who joined the Gunners from Aston Villa in the summer for £55 million. Since joining Arsenal, Konsa has featured in 5 games, playing 371 minutes alongside Gabriel, and the duo have 3 clean sheets, for a 60% clean-sheet rate. With the new duo together, they also have a points-per-game average of 2.4. With the duo being so new, Gabriel and Konsa have no goals o assists when they have played together.
### Is Mosquera ready to be the main man?
The next person to look at is Cristhian Mosquera. Since joining Arsenal alongside Gabriel,the duo have played 1,446 minutes together, with the duo having 16 clean sheets in 28games together, meaning they have a clean sheet percentage of 57.1%. The duo together have a points-per-game average of 2.11 across the 28 games. With Mosquera and Gabriel together, they have scored 1 goal when they have played together, coming from Gabriel. The last defender to consider as Gabriel’s centre-back partner is Piero Hincapie, who fully joined Arsenal from Bayer Leverkusen after spending last season on loan at the Gunners. In 33 games, Hincapie and Gabriel have kept 18 clean sheets, meaning they have a percentage of 54.5%. The duo have a points-per-game average of 2.27 across the 33 games; in fact, the duo have 3 goals and 5 assists together, with Hincapie actually assisting a Gabriel goal in a 2-2 draw against Wolves.
### Hincapie has the experience now, but is he up to the task?
But with all the facts and statistics, we still need to figure out who would be best for Arsenal. Well, it really depends on what you want; if you're looking for clean sheets and soliditybehind the squad, then statistically you’d pick Ezri Konsa to play alongside Gabriel However, if we were to go off tried-and-tested and in-game impact, you can’t shy away fropicking Piero Hincapie due to the attacking capabilities that the duo have together, as well as having the most clean sheets in comparison to Gabriel’s partnership with Cristhia Mosquera.
**Strength in depth will see us through**
Overall, as Arsenal fans, we are very lucky to have such a strong defensive department, and arguably, once William Saliba comes back, the original partnership of Gabriel and Saliba will reform, but it is incredibly comforting as a fan to know that we have such strong support.