They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The two which William Saliba chose to bookend his latest social media post told the complete story of his north London derby.
To celebrate Arsenal’s thumping 4–1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday evening, Saliba selected five images of himself from the match. It was telling that the first and last depicted the burly Frenchman wrestling Spurs striker Richarlison to the turf.
That running battle defined an imperious display from Saliba. It was a performance made up of a series of scuffles, all pinches and pokes, shirt pulls and sly jabs in the ribs. Richarlison would emerge from the derby with a spectacular goal, spearing a not-so-consolatory consolation over David Raya from 40 yards while Spurs trailed by three goals, yet it was Saliba who emerged victorious.
Despite his wonder goal, Richarlison and the rest of Tottenham’s frontline were muzzled for most of a desperately one-sided derby. Arsenal limited Spurs to just three shots, none inside the penalty area, and an xG of 0.07, the lowest recorded by any team across all 119 Premier League games this season. Declan Rice captured the mood with a comment beneath Saliba’s post: “Locked up.”
No wonder Mikel Arteta “enjoyed every minute of it.”
Hard Work Has Only Just Begun for Saliba
Sunday’s derby was just the first stop in a defining sequence of fixtures for the Gunners this week. Based on the apathetic performance Tottenham could muster, it may prove to be the most straightforward.
Saliba will undoubtedly have a much tougher time getting to grips with Harry Kane when Bayern Munich sidle up to the Emirates on Wednesday night. Unlike the demonstrably tactile Richarlison, Kane’s game is laced with subtlety.
Bayern’s rampant goalscorer spends just as much time creating, floating six inches above every blade of grass available as he goes in search of the ball. Saliba has twice faced Kane at the Emirates before, and the England captain found the net on each occasion.
Chelsea’s ever-changing assortment of forward-thinking players will also test a Gabriel-less Arsenal backline next weekend. Enzo Maresca began the trip to Burnley with a double-act of Liam Delap and João Pedro, while Marc Guiu did his best to stake a claim for a starting spot with a goal off the bench.
Gabriel is guaranteed to miss this glut of fixtures and could potentially be sidelined until 2026. Saliba has every right to enjoy his shackling of Richarlison, but the hard work has only just begun.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as William Saliba Trolls Tottenham Star After North London Derby Thrashing.
