Arsenal are know for their strong defence in the recent years. William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes have both been super strong in the backline for Arsenal. Both perform very well for their club along with country. But Saliba was seem lacking recently while playing for France against Belgium.
France made an away trip to Belgium for their latest Nations League fixture. They were able to win the match with a very small margin but were tested by Belgium. Kolo Mauni scored both of the goals for France and helped them to gain the maximum points.
France were also lucky as Belgium missed the opportunity to score from the penalty spot. They did scored the goal later but still fell short to win at their home. Arsenal star William Saliba who is always very consistent in defence seemed lacking yesterday and hence was slammed by many.
How was Saliba for France yesterday?
Saliba was the lowest rated player for France yesterday. He has became the regular starter for Didier Deschamps since the Euro and provided good results. Yesterday was one of the rare days where nothing went right for him.
Firstly, Saliba commited a foul on Lois Openda which resulted to penalty in the 23rd minute. Luckily for Saliba, Tielemans missed the penalty and failed to take the lead. However, Saliba was once again at fault when Belgium scored their first goal.
This time, Saliba failed to properly mark Openda who scored a beautiful header. The game was leveled in the first half but Mauni was able to score brace and assure France leave with all three points.
Saliba did had some amazing stats in the game as he completed 90% of his passes. He also completed 80% long balls. Other than that it was not so good as he lost all of his ground duels and also lost 50% of his ariel duels.
Lastly, the Arsenal star made 1 block, 4 clearances and 4 recoveries. But he was unable to make any tackle or any interception and this performance may not look like one from Saliba for sure. All stats as per FOTMOB.
This is only the rare occasion and every footballer has good and bad days. Saliba will be back at his best for sure and produce amazing performances for both his club and country. The top players always bounce back and so will Saliba.
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