Arsenal are one game away. One game from lifting a first Premier League title in 22 years. In fact, they may be less than 24 hours away from winning the whole thing.
The Gunners secured a less than vintage 1-0 win over Burnley on Monday night and with it, remain firmly in pole position to lift the trophy on Sunday evening.
Manchester City are still chasing but anything less than a win when they face Bournemouth away from home on Tuesday night will mean that Mikel Arteta‘s men are crowned champions.
It has been a long and arduous season, one that was pretty well encapsulated during their victory against Michael Jackson’s Clarets yesterday night.
How Arsenal defeated Burnley
We say this was not a vintage Arsenal performance but in the context of how this campaign has played out, it was.
Sure, it was not the swashbuckling football we came to love under Arsene Wenger, it rarely has been under Arteta. Yet, it was attritional and they got over the line courtesy of yet another set-piece.
In 19 separate Premier League games this term, 50% of the club’s matches, Arsenal have scored from a set-piece. Some may bemoan their reliance on set-plays but it’s been a major part of their armoury.
Truth be told, the Gunners did not create lots from open play, even if they did see plenty of the ball. Yet, a combination of Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz came up trumps.
Following a series of short corners early in the first period, they eventually swung one into the danger area and it worked a treat. Saka’s delivery was inch-perfect as it always is and Havertz leapt like a salmon out of fresh water to head home.
The German has endured a difficult season but this was one of his biggest moments in Arsenal colours yet. It was perhaps a surprise he even started.
Viktor Gyokeres had scored nine goals in his last 13 league matches coming into this one and was one of the club’s most in-form players, notably scoring twice against Fulham a few weeks ago.
Yet, in these moments, in these big games, Havertz is often trusted and he demonstrated precisely why he was selected to start on Monday night.
While Leandro Trossard struck the post in the first half and Saka came close with a curling effort of his own, Burnley were relatively untroubled.
Havertz was fortunate not to see red for a lunging tackle and Burnley were able to rally in the second half. That said, despite the threat of an upset the longer the game remained at 1-0, the visitors never looked like causing problems for David Raya.
At the back, it was a 32nd clean sheet of the season in all competitions, six more than any other side in Europe’s top five leagues. Gabriel has often been the man to get the plaudits but the man beside him deserves more praise than he’s getting.
Arsenal’s modern-day Vieira shines again
On the night, Declan Rice took home the Man of the Match award. The Englishman has long been labelled Arsenal’s modern-day Patrick Vieira and he was at the heart of everything good Arsenal did on Monday, bursting forward and breaking up play with ease.
Yet, while the midfielder is in the conversation to win the division’s player of the season award alongside the likes of Gabriel and Raya, William Saliba also deserves to be part of the discussion.
It took the Frenchman a considerable period of time to earn his stripes at the Emirates after a £27 move. He had three separate loan spells with Saint Etienne, Nice and Marseille before he even kicked a ball for Arsenal. Yet, after being given his debut at the start of the 2022/23 season, he has not looked back.
Now aged 25, he is one of the best centre-backs in the world, if not the best in the world. Gabriel has often taken the plaudits for his goalscoring antics. It’s difficult not to take note of that. Yet, alongside him is a warrior, a bulldozer, a machine of a man cut from a similar cloth as a certain Vieira.
Next to Gabriel, he is the quieter of the two. He’s something of a silent leader but everything he does is done with absolute ease. Besides the fact they are both French, what makes Vieira and Saliba so alike are five different characteristics; presence, authority, composure, physical dominance and aura.
|
Saliba vs Burnley |
|
|---|---|
|
Mintues played |
90 |
|
Touches |
70 |
|
Accurate passes |
59/64 (92%) |
|
Defensive contributions |
5 |
|
Recoveries |
2 |
|
Duels won |
5/10 |
|
Clearances |
5 |
|
Carries |
11 |
Like Vieira, Saliba is the type of player you fear. You know that more often than not when you’re faced with the player, you’re coming out second best.
While the former may well have been more of a agressive physical presence compared to the more elegant style of Saliba, both have that same vibe; take us on at your peril.
That was abundantly clear against Burnley once again. During that clash, he won five of his nine aerial duels, completed 92% of his passes and was dribbled past once. That final statistic is something of a surprise truth be told, as like Vieira, he’s someone that’s traditionally virtually impossible to get past.
Yet, if Arsenal do go on to lift the title and potentially even take home the Champions League in just under two weeks, then Saliba deserves all of the flowers in the world. He’s been immense, a rock and an absolute pillar of this Arsenal team. In another era, he may have been captaining this side to glory, just as Vieira did over 20 years ago.
For now, he is happy to play to play the role of bridesmaid to Rice, Gabriel and Co.
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