Jamie Carragher delivers verdict on Arsenal defender William Saliba

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Arsenal defender William Saliba has been praised by pundit Jamie Carragher after impressing against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Arsenal headed to Villa Park on Saturday evening, taking on former boss Unai Emery and his flying Aston Villa side.

The Gunners knew to expect a tough game after seeing Villa beat Manchester City in midweek and they gave up an early goal to John McGinn.

That proved to be the winner with Arsenal unable to find a leveller, albeit in rather controversial circumstances.

Arsenal had one strong penalty shout turned down and Kai Havertz’s late leveller was ruled out for handball, leaving Gunners fans frustrated.

Jamie Carragher hails Arsenal defender William Saliba

Mikel Arteta’s men did actually play well, certainly better than City’s performance at Villa Park just days earlier.

Jamie Carragher certainly found something to be positive about – the performance of Arsenal defender William Saliba.

Carragher actually highlighted Saliba as a key man for Arsenal even before the game kicked off.

The former Liverpool defender told Sky Sports (09/12, 5:30pm) that he thinks Saliba is becoming not only one of the best defenders in England, but also in Europe.

The Frenchman justified Carragher’s praise with a fine performance, leaving the pundit to praise a ‘fantastic’ performance.

“Saliba is slowly looking like one of the top centre-halves, not just in this country but maybe in Europe as well,” said Carragher.

“He’s been fantastic, Saliba,” he added as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes.

It’s not often you even see Saliba make a mistake.

The 22-year-old has become an imperious defender, showing outstanding pace and reading of the game.

Few Premier League strikers can say they have got the better of Saliba and outside of one wayward pass against Villa, he was pretty much flawless.

It took a while, but the £27million Arsenal paid to land Saliba in 2019 is now looking like an absolute bargain as he goes from strength to strength in North London.