Arsenal made a statement of intent to the whole Premier League that they are ready to fight to the end for the Premier League title this season after a completely dominating performance against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The 1-0 result did not show the true reflection of the Performance Arsenal exhibited against Chelsea. Arsenal could have won the game by more than two goals. Gabriel Jesus and William Saliba had been the key performance behind Arsenal’s exceptional start to the season.
Manchester United Icon Rio Ferdinand has admitted that Gabriel Jesus and William are the two most important players in Arsenal’s quest to win the Premier League for the first time since 2004.
He believes Arsenal’s performance will drop massively with an injury with Gabriel Jesus or William Saliba.
What did Rio Ferdinand say?
When asked if he agrees with the suggestion that Thomas Partey is the most important player in the Arsenal team, he said: “I don’t agree, your most important player is Jesus or Saliba.
“If those players come out of the team, the drop-off from that level is massive.
“You could play Xhaka in Partey’s position and get through a couple of games, not a problem.
“But you ain’t going to get the same output from someone who comes in after Jesus or Saliba, you’ve got Nketiah or Holding coming in.
“I agree the control mainly without the ball, the way they controlled Chelsea was unreal. It shows you the coaching that has gone in, the hard work from the manager, and the ability of the players to take it on.
“Saliba was immense, he played really, really well. He stood out. Partey made it look easy in that midfield, and dominated that midfield.
“Jesus did everything but put the ball in the back of the net. I just feel he needs to tweak his performance a little bit to be a goal threat in the box, if he can do that with what he’s doing outside, at times he’s covering at left-back, it’s crazy.”
Meanwhile, Alan Shearer has picked his England Starting eleven for their World Cup opener against Iran.
Speaking on Vibe With Five, He said: “there are so many ifs. Is Kyle Walker going to be fit? Reece James? So they are big question marks.
“I would without a doubt have Kieran Trippier in there in my defense, I think he is England’s best defender in those positions.
“I know Gareth had him as a left-back start of the Euros. But I will without a doubt have him on the team.
“Maybe [Eric] Dier, maybe Shaw. If Walker is fit, I would perhaps start Trippier’s left side.”
The Premier League all-time top scorer was full of praise for England Midfielder Jude Bellingham.
He added: “He could be a superstar.
“He is already going to be a superstar. but he could be someone that comes out of the tournament and the whole world is going, “who is this player?” He is that good.”