William Saliba kept goal-machine Erling Haaland quiet during Man City’s trip to Arsenal and has yet to be dribbled past this season… but is the Gunners star the BEST defender in the Premier League?

Manchester City star Erling Haaland was reminded on Sunday afternoon that he is, in fact, human.

The Norwegian striker, who scored 36 goals in 35 Premier League appearances last season, failed to have a single shot on target in their 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.

While many might suggest that it was the absence of Kevin De Bruyne from City’s squad that caused Haaland’s demise, others would point to the work of William Saliba.

The Arsenal centre-back showed true dominance as he guided Haaland throughout the match and helped the Gunners secure a clean sheet.

And so, here, Sports Mail takes a look at Saliba’s astonishing season stats and how he compares to the rest of the league’s best defenders.

William Saliba (top) produced an outstanding performance in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Man City

The French defender assisted City striker Erling Haaland (left) throughout the match.

During Arsenal’s clash against City on Sunday afternoon, there was much debate about the potential battle between City’s Haaland and Arsenal’s Saliba.

Many have suggested that Haaland will struggle, given the absence of Kevin De Bruyne, who has been out since early August with a recurring injury.

And it proved true as, during the match at the Emirates, the Norwegian striker barely sniffed the goal.

With just 23 touches during the match, Haaland failed to save a shot on the Arsenal goal as Saliba headed it expertly throughout the match.

There was one moment in particular that highlighted Saliba’s dominance in the match, when he brushed aside the City striker as he looked to burst in behind.

It’s a moment that has since gone viral on social media, with many impressed by Saliba’s eye-catching performance that day.

However, the statistics suggest that the afternoon was almost perfect for the former Saint-Etienne central defender.

Saliba managed to win 100 percent of his duels, posted a passing accuracy of 97 percent and committed no fouls in the clash against Man City.

Additionally, Man City managed just four shots on goal, which is the lowest total in a Premier League match since the arrival of Pep Guardiola.

Haaland, who scored 36 league goals last season, failed to record a single shot on target

The 23-year-old was closely watched by Arsenal’s Saliba (right) throughout the match.

Saliba’s importance to Arteta’s side was evident as he easily contained one of the world’s most prolific strikers – and his statistics throughout the season will back that up.

The 22-year-old is one of the few defenders in the Premier League who has yet to be dribbled past by one of his opponents – a truly incredible statistic.

And when comparing Saliba with some of his strongest counterparts in the league – like Ruben Dias, Virgil van Dijk, Cristian Romero and Sven Botman – the Frenchman still stands out.

In terms of passes attempted per game, the Arsenal star is only beaten by City’s Dias – whose tally of 648 only outstrips Saliba’s 636 passes.

However, despite Dias’ attempts, Saliba boasts a higher success rate than the Portugal international, with a success rate of 94.34 percent.

Saliba also won the second most duels among these five defenders – with only Spurs’ Romero beating him in that category.

The 22-year-old also narrowly loses out to Romero in terms of recoveries made this year – the Spurs star’s total of 45 narrowly beating Saliba’s 43.

In fact, the World Cup winner leads Premier League centre-backs in statistics this season, such as duels won, aerial duels won, tackles and interceptions.

Saliba leads, ahead of Virgil van Dijk (left) and Ruben Dias (right), in a number of statistics

Tottenham star Cristian Romero is one of the few defenders to dispute Saliba’s statistics.

Saliba’s impressive performances go beyond just individual statistics, however, with his impact within the Arsenal team evident.

Since August 2022, Arsenal have won 77% of their Premier League matches under Saliba. However, without Saliba, the win rate drops to 46 percent.

It’s no wonder that after Saliba suffered a back injury in March, Arsenal’s Premier League title race quickly began to fade.

And, if Mikel Arteta is to have any hope of securing another league title victory, it is clear that their success will depend heavily on Saliba’s fitness.