Mikel Arteta has discovered what could be Arsenal's perfect defence as the Gunners rounded off their impressive pre-season schedule with a 6-0 win over Sevilla.
Oleksandr Zinchenko arrived from Manchester City for a fee of £32million this summer as Arsenal made the Ukraine international their fifth new addition, following Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos and Matt Turner to the club. William Saliba returned to north London after a superb loan spell with Marseille in which he picked up the Ligue 1 Young player of the Season award.
Ben White has filled in a right-back due to the absence of Takehiro Tomiyasu in pre-season as the Japanese defender recovers from injury. Gabriel Magalhaes was linked with a move away from the Emirates Stadium as Juventus searched for a replacement for Matthijs de Ligt, but it looks as though the Brazilian is a key part of Mikel Arteta's dream defensive quartet.
READ MORE: Martin Odegaard's first words after being named Arsenal captain following 6-0 Sevilla drubbing
Arsenal have kept three consecutive clean sheets to finish up their preparations for the new Premier League season as the club now turn their attentions to the opener against Crystal Palace. The consistent factor in the 4-0 win over Chelsea and 6-0 thrashing of Sevilla is that a defence of White, Gabriel, Saliba and Zinchenko started.
Arteta has faced injury problems in pre-season with Kieran Tierney and Tomiyasu both still recovering from injuries suffered at the end of last season. Tierney has shown signs that he is close to returning to challenge new signing Zinchenko for a starting spot in defence, but the Scotland international faces an uphill task now following back-to-back impressive performances by the Ukraine international.
Mikel Arteta praised the defence following Arsenal's winning result against Sevilla on Saturday. The Spaniard said: "It's about the connection between all the players, all the units, the intensity, the willingness to win the ball as high as possible on the pitch.
"The moment we give it away it's about how the team reacts, how compact we are, how willing we are when that press is beaten to get back and be compact again. It's just a team effort and individually and collectively they are really living the game in every single ball and this is what we demand them to do."
White has been a revelation at right-back but has previous experience of playing in a similar role for Brighton, offering a similar option to Tomiyasu as a centre-back that can play at fullback. Whilst neither Gabriel or Saliba are a natural left-footed defender, both have shone for Arsenal in pre-season as the latter eyes a starting spot after three seasons spent out on-loan since arriving in north London in 2019.
football.london understands the Gunners want to sign a left-sided defender before the transfer deadline after missing out on Lisandro Martinez, who joined Manchester United, but the performances of the defence in recent games show this may not be a priority now. Arteta will likely field the same defence for a third successive game when the Gunners travel to Selhurst Park, hoping for yet another clean sheet as the north London outfit look to start the 2022/23 campaign with a win.
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