Ben White describes Arsenal’s centre-back duo as 'unbelievable'

William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are arguably the best central defense pairing there is in the Premier League, if not the whole of Europe.

Despite missing out on league glory by 2 points on the final day of the season, the duo excelled last season, setting the foundation for a superior run last season. Arsenal demonstrated their defensive brilliance by conceding only 29 goals, the fewest in the league; conceding the fewest chances in Europe’s top five leagues, with only 28.3 expected goals across 2023-24; and maintaining 11 cleansheets in 18 games in the second half of the 2023-24, for a total of 18 cleansheets in 38 games. So far this season, Gabriel and Saliba have consistently performed well; they have conceded the second fewest goals in the league (6) and demonstrated their superiority in games such as the 2-2 draw with Manchester City and the 1-1 draw with Brighton, where a porous defense would have been costly for our Gunners. By now, you must be wondering why I am suddenly praising the Arsenal defense. Ben White has inspired me to consider the superiority of Saliba and Gabriel in Arsenal’s central defense. Speaking about the defensive duo in conversation with Ben Foster for Prime Video Sport, White admitted, “Unbelievable. I am not sure I have seen two better together.“Saliba is incredible; there’s nothing I can say is a weakness. And Gabriel, the threat he has in the box is scary. Every time we get a corner, you kind of know you’re going to score if the ball is in an alright area.” Saliba and Gabriel are undeniably formidable, and if they continue to develop at their current rate, it’s likely that they will become the greatest PL defensive duo in history. Sir Alex Ferguson said defense wins you trophies, and Arsenal’s will sooner or later do that.