Exclusive: Winterburn likens ‘superb’ Arsenal man to Van Dijk after ‘good result’ v Man City

Kevin Palmer
Arsenal defender William Saliba receives high praise from Nigel Winterburn
William Saliba receives high praise from Nigel Winterburn

Arsenal legend Nigel Winterburn has waxed lyrical about William Saliba after his man of the match performance against Manchester City.

Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Manchester City last Sunday handed Liverpool the edge in the title race, as Jurgen Klopp’s side moved two points clear at the top of the table with nine games left to play.

Saliba reminds Arsenal legend of Van Dijk

That result at the Etihad Stadium may prove to be a crucial result in the title race if the Reds go on to win it, yet Winterburn is convinced Premier League title glory is coming for Arsenal after Mikel Arteta’s side bounced back from a horrible collapse in form that ended their title hopes last season.

The absence of key defender William Saliba from the Arsenal line-up in the final weeks of last season was viewed as a key factor in their demise, yet the Frenchman has been back to his best in recent months and turned in a command performance in the draw against Manchester City.

Winterburn played in one of the best Arsenal defences of all-time featuring Tony Adams, Steve Bould and Lee Dixon and he believes Saliba now deserves to be compared to the Premier League’s best defenders.

“I see a little bit of Virgil van Dijk in Saliba,” Winterburn told Football365 in association with NewBettingOffers.co.uk, as he compared Arsenal’s defensive talisman to the Liverpool captain.

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“He has that turn of pace, he is comfortable playing out under pressure and I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen the best of him. He is still so young, but he is already playing at a very high level.

“Saliba was superb at the weekend against Manchester City in what was a magnificent defensive team performance.

“We built the game up and we were thinking it was going to be a classic with a lot of goals, but it didn’t work out like that and Arsenal deserved credit for restricting City and denying them the space to do what they do so well.

“Arsenal were superb defensively and while they may have missed a few chances to gain some momentum going forward, it was an outstanding effort to stop Manchester City. I’m not sure I’ve seen an Arsenal team play that well defensively for a long time.

“When you look at the recent history of matches between Arsenal and Man City, a draw at the Etihad is always a good result, even if it did hand Liverpool the initiative in the title race for now.”

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