William Saliba offers Erling Haaland an appropriate alert ahead of Manchester City versus Arsenal encounter. William Saliba is seeking to stop Erling Haaland in his tracks when Arsenal go to Manchester City in their early Premier League title clash on Sunday, but first up for the Gunners is a visit to Atalanta in the Champions League. According to William Saliba, Arsenal has already stopped Erling Haaland and can do it again. The towering France international center defender is preparing for Arsenal's Champions League opener against Atalanta in Bergamo on Thursday night.
However, Arsenal clearly and sensibly appears to have one eye on Sunday's mega meeting against Premier League championship rivals Manchester City, given that the outcome of this game might potentially define their season.Stopping Haaland, who has nine top-flight goals in his first four games, could be the key to another positive outcome after a hard-fought 0-0 draw with City in late March.
And Saliba, speaking to Fox Sports Mexico, believes history will repeat itself as Arsenal attempts to complete a shutout: "He is a great player." One of the very best in the world. It's difficult to play against him, but we tried everything last season to keep him from scoring, and he didn't succeed." However, the 23-year-old has warned his Arsenal teammates that the title will not be won or lost just five games into the 2024-25 season. He added: "Of course, we want to fight with Manchester City, like we did in the last two seasons, but we realize we need to do more. As previously stated, we must compete not only with City, but also with other teams, because it's not just about the city. It makes no sense to win against them yet lose against the others. So, of course, we want to win this weekend and will give it our all, but it isn't over on Sunday.
City has a significant advantage over Arsenal in that they will have 24 hours of rest when they begin their Champions League campaign tonight at home against Inter Milan.Meanwhile, Arsenal must return from Italy before continuing north to Manchester due to a demanding timetable. Martin Odegaard missed training on Wednesday ahead of Arsenal's game against Atalanta due to an ankle injury acquired while on international duty with Norway. Riccardo Calafiori returned to training after missing Sunday's north London derby triumph over Tottenham due to a calf injury. Oleksandr Zinchenko, Mikel Merino, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Kieran Tierney were all absent due to injuries. Declan Rice is poised to return to the Arsenal fold after sitting out.
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