The remaining whistle had been blown however that didn’t cease Erling Haaland and Gabriel Magalhães. Having battled it out for 90 minutes throughout March’s 0-0 draw on the Etihad between Manchester City and Arsenal, the Brazilian defender was in no temper to again down.
As their teammates shook palms, Gabriel confronted Haaland, whose declare for a late penalty had been waved away by the referee, Anthony Taylor. Pep Guardiola was first on the scene to act as peacemaker as temperatures simmered, pushing the Norwegian striker away earlier than the 2 gamers ultimately embraced. “Good game,” mentioned Haaland.
Nearly six months on, let battle recommence. A video posted by the Premier League on Thursday titled “All the duels: Haaland v Saliba and Gabriel” and asking who will prevail on Sunday whet the urge for food because the nation’s most deadly striker goes face-to-face with the meanest defence in the land.
Haaland has scored solely as soon as in opposition to an Arsenal staff containing Gabriel and William Saliba, in City’s 3-1 victory on the Emirates in February 2023. He discovered the web once more in the 4-1 thrashing of Arsenal on the Etihad lower than two months later and Rob Holding might be nonetheless having nightmares about going through him after stepping in to change Saliba, who had a again harm.
But, as Saliba was eager to level out this week, Haaland has gone three matches with out scoring in opposition to Mikel Arteta’s aspect should you embrace final season’s Community Shield, the place Arsenal prevailed on penalties. “He is a great player,” the Frenchman mentioned. “One of the best in the world. It is difficult to play against him but last season we gave everything to stop him from scoring and he didn’t succeed. I’m good because Gabriel is good – he helps me a lot.”
The defender from Bondy – the identical house city as Kylian Mbappé in the Parisian banlieues – has impressed along with his composure, restoration pace and skill on the ball since breaking into Arsenal’s staff at first of the 2022-23 season. He will once more be tasked with attempting to anticipate the place to be to cease City’s fluid assaults, whereas will probably be up to Gabriel – whose representatives are reported to have already opened talks about extending his contract that ends in 2026 – to interact with Haaland in a bodily battle that must be definitely worth the entrance price alone. Saliba and Gabriel had been once more excellent in opposition to Atalanta in the Champions League on Thursday as Arsenal made it 4 clear sheets from 5 matches this season and Arteta is assured they're going to get even higher.
“They are in a great moment and have been very, very consistent for the past two seasons together,” he mentioned. “There is an unbelievable chemistry there and you can sense it. They gave us a lot tonight – I thought they were both exceptional.”
A function of Gabriel’s efficiency in Bergamo was the variety of headers he received because the Italian aspect piled on the stress in the second half, with the Italy striker Mateo Retegui trying a overwhelmed man when substituted late on after being denied by David Raya’s miraculous double save from his penalty. Gabriel is aware of he can be in for a good harder project in opposition to Haaland, and Arteta hopes the plan to cease the striker who has scored a report 9 targets in the primary 4 Premier League outings will repay once more.
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“When you see the stats and the number of goals that he scores then you can tell that he is one of the main sources,” the supervisor mentioned. “We need to stop him from scoring. We always look at the individuals and the strengths that they have and how we can nullify that.”
Three powerful away matches in eight days couldn't have come at a worse time given the ankle harm to Martin Ødegaard that may sideline the Arsenal captain for the foreseeable future. Arteta’s aspect secured a treasured victory over Spurs from solely 36.3% possession thanks to Gabriel’s winner from a nook, then had been second finest for a lot of the recreation in opposition to Atalanta regardless of having the ball virtually as a lot because the Italian aspect. During final season’s draw on the Etihad Arsenal had 27% of possession and their gameplan will once more be primarily based on sitting deep and attempting to hit on the break.
Arteta can be conscious of the criticism from some quarters for parking the bus in opposition to their greatest rivals final time however is unlikely to change techniques given how efficient they've been. “They didn’t manage to win the league and people can say: ‘Oh, if they went on to win that game, those two points …,’” the previous Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas instructed the BBC this week. “But Mikel is too smart for this. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He always has a gameplan.”
