Ex-Arsenal and Chelsea defender William Gallas believes William Saliba is one of the few Premier League defenders who can get the better of Manchester City’s Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian international has hit the back of the net 50 times in 50 league appearances since arriving from Borussia Dortmund last year and, asked by Gentside how he would stop the striker from scoring goals, Gallas replied:
“It would have been very difficult for me to play against Erling Haaland, he’s a big guy! I don’t know how I would have gone about facing him. To play against such a big guy, you have to be strong and be an intelligent defender like William Saliba.”
“Saliba can manage to hold off Haaland in duels as he did at the beginning of the season in particular. In my time, there were great strikers with imposing stature like Didier Drogba but when he played against Manchester United he always had difficult matches against Nemanja Vidic.”
Both Haaland and Saliba have come out on top in head-to-head battles
Gallas’s remarks are bang on the money. While Haaland scored on his first appearance when facing Saliba’s Arsenal in a 3-1 victory last season, he failed to hit the back of the net in the Community Shield or the defeat at the Emirates earlier this campaign.
The forward has faced the Gunners on two other occasions when Saliba was sidelined with injury. In one of those fixtures at the Etihad back in April, he scored and provided two assists in a 4-1 victory.
When will the two players face off against each other again?
Unless City and Arsenal are drawn to face one another in the FA Cup or the Champions League, the next time Haaland and Saliba will meet is in March next year.
Many still feel that the race for the Premier League title could come down to City and Arsenal so it may end up being a decisive game.
