Michael Owen has stated that Erling Haaland would have been controlled a lot ‘better’ if William Saliba was fit and available for Arsenal during their 4-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday night.
The former England striker spoke about how it was a ‘total mismatch’ between Rob Holding and Erling Haaland, as Mikel Arteta’s side were outclassed by Manchester City on the biggest night of their season.
For the last six matches, William Saliba has been out of action with a back injury and he has watched his team only win two of those games.
To think, 12 months ago, Saliba was on-loan at Marseille, yet to make his Arsenal debut, despite signing for the club in 2019, is pretty remarkable.
But, fast forward to the present and all of that has turned on its head and he has become very valuable to the team, even more so now that he hasn’t been playing in recent weeks.
Michael Owen thinks things might have been different had the France star been available to Arteta against Europe’s most-deadly striker, as he told Premier League Productions (26/04/23 at 10:25 pm).
“I know we said before the game that Arsenal have got a pretty fit squad, at the moment,” said Owen. “But one player was missing and that’s possibly their most important player for this game and that’s Saliba.
“If he was playing against Haaland, we might have seen him controlled a little bit better. He was a massive miss and one that Arsenal couldn’t afford.
“That was a total mismatch, in the end, him against Holding and I think if Mikel Arteta had him fit, I am not saying it would have been a different result, but he would have been a lot quieter.”
WILL SALIBA RETURN?
Arsenal fans would have been hoping that Saliba, somehow and from somewhere, would have pulled off a surprise and been available for Man City, but it wasn’t meant to be.
However, whilst the title is heading to Man City, as it stands, Arsenal still have to fight and win their remaining games.
Can Saliba get himself back on the pitch in order for Arteta’s side to achieve that because there are some massive games around the corner, including a trip to Newcastle United?
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