Title tussle: Arsenal’s defensive duo out to try and stop Erling Haaland again

The final whistle had been blown but that didn’t stop Erling Haaland and Gabriel Magalhães. Having battled it out for 90 minutes during March’s 0-0 draw at the Etihad between Manchester City and Arsenal, the Brazilian defender was in no mood to back down.

As their teammates shook hands, Gabriel confronted Haaland, whose claim for a late penalty had been waved away by the referee, Anthony Taylor. Pep Guardiola was first on the scene to act as peacemaker as temperatures simmered, pushing the Norwegian striker away before the two players eventually embraced. “Good game,” said Haaland.

Nearly six months on, let battle recommence. A video posted by the Premier League on Thursday titled “All the duels: Haaland v Saliba and Gabriel” and asking who will prevail on Sunday whet the appetite as the country’s most lethal striker goes face-to-face with the meanest defence in the land.

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Haaland has scored only once against an Arsenal team containing Gabriel and William Saliba, in City’s 3-1 victory at the Emirates in February 2023. He found the net again in the 4-1 thrashing of Arsenal at the Etihad less than two months later and Rob Holding is probably still having nightmares about facing him after stepping in to replace Saliba, who had a back injury.

But, as Saliba was keen to point out this week, Haaland has gone three matches without scoring against Mikel Arteta’s side if you include last season’s Community Shield, where Arsenal prevailed on penalties. “He is a great player,” the Frenchman said. “One of the best in the world. It is difficult to play against him but last season we gave everything to stop him from scoring and he didn’t succeed. I’m good because Gabriel is good – he helps me a lot.”

The defender from Bondy – the same home town as Kylian Mbappé in the Parisian banlieues – has impressed with his composure, recovery speed and ability on the ball since breaking into Arsenal’s team at the start of the 2022-23 season. He will again be tasked with trying to anticipate where to be to stop City’s fluid attacks, while it will be up to Gabriel – whose representatives are reported to have already opened talks about extending his contract that ends in 2026 – to engage with Haaland in a physical battle that should be worth the entrance fee alone. Saliba and Gabriel were again outstanding against Atalanta in the Champions League on Thursday as Arsenal made it four clean sheets from five matches this season and Arteta is confident they are going to get even better.

“They are in a great moment and have been very, very consistent for the past two seasons together,” he said. “There is an unbelievable chemistry there and you can sense it. They gave us a lot tonight – I thought they were both exceptional.”

A feature of Gabriel’s performance in Bergamo was the number of headers he won as the Italian side piled on the pressure in the second half, with the Italy striker Mateo Retegui looking a beaten man when substituted late on after being denied by David Raya’s miraculous double save from his penalty. Gabriel knows he will be in for an even tougher assignment against Haaland, and Arteta hopes the plan to stop the striker who has scored a record nine goals in the first four Premier League outings will pay off again.

“When you see the stats and the number of goals that he scores then you can tell that he is one of the main sources,” the manager said. “We need to stop him from scoring. We always look at the individuals and the strengths that they have and how we can nullify that.”

Three tough away matches in eight days could not have come at a worse time given the ankle injury to Martin Ødegaard that will sideline the Arsenal captain for the foreseeable future. Arteta’s side secured a precious victory over Spurs from only 36.3% possession thanks to Gabriel’s winner from a corner, then were second best for most of the game against Atalanta despite having the ball almost as much as the Italian side. During last season’s draw at the Etihad Arsenal had 27% of possession and their gameplan will again be based on sitting deep and trying to hit on the break.

Arteta will be mindful of the criticism from some quarters for parking the bus against their biggest rivals last time but is unlikely to change tactics given how effective they have been. “They didn’t manage to win the league and people can say: ‘Oh, if they went on to win that game, those two points …,’” the former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas told the BBC this week. “But Mikel is too smart for this. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He always has a gameplan.”