Martin Keown has warned Arsenal that Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will be a ‘nightmare’ to defend in the UEFA Champions League final.
Martin Keown has described William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes as the best centre-half partnership in the world ahead of the UEFA Champions League final. On Saturday night, Paris Saint-Germain will lock horns with Arsenal at the Puskas Arena in the ultimate battle of attack versus defence – and he says the duo will need to read situations at lightning speed to contain their opponents.
The French giants have scored more goals than any other team in Europe’s elite competition this season (44), with the Gunners netting 29. However, Mikel Arteta’s side have kept far more clean sheets than anyone else (nine), including PSG, who have only managed to record five.
Thanks in part to Saliba and Gabriel, David Raya has already equalled the record for the most clean sheets in a single Champions League campaign. Edouard Mendy currently holds the record with nine in 12 games, when Chelsea won the competition for the second time in their history five years ago.
If the Arsenal shot-stopper, who has already played 13 times, keeps the ball out of the net in Budapest this weekend, then he will overtake the former Blues goalkeeper. The Gunners have been so solid at the back that they’ve conceded fewer xG per shot (0.08) than any other team in the competition this season.
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Arsenal have also conceded only six goals despite chalking up an xGA of 11.74. In an interview with football.london ahead of the Champions League final, which will be broadcast exclusively on TNT Sports and discovery+, Keown showered Saliba and Gabriel with praise.
The Gunners legend said: “I think we’ve probably got the best two central defenders in Europe right now. I think Gabriel is a bit of a sensation this season, in both boxes and what he’s brought to the team.”
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Keown continued: “Saliba is like a Rolls-Royce of a player. He’s silky, good in possession, big, strong man, mobile. He’s got everything to his game. Goes on loan, by the way, for three seasons.
“When you spend that amount of time on loan, you start to think, ‘this can’t be for me, I can’t be an Arsenal player’. So just think about that for a minute. The mental toughness he had.
“Maybe it was part of a bigger plan. But he was the [UNFP Ligue 1 Young] Player of the Year in that last season he was there. He was the man of the match in his first game for Arsenal against Crystal Palace.
“I was at the game thinking, ‘where’s this kid been?’ Goes on loan for three years and comes back. So now he’s formed a partnership with Gabriel. Gabriel’s a player I find I get the most joy from watching because I like his physicality.
“I like the way that he makes his challenges. It’s rewarding for me to watch. I’m not saying that I played like that because he’s a way better player than me, but I enjoy that style that he offers, and I think he is the leader of the pack, and they are quite formidable, and they will need to be at the weekend because they’re going to be stretched.”
Offering Saliba and Gabriel some advice, Keown said: “Sometimes when you’re playing, when you don’t have anyone to mark, and suddenly you’ve got three players to mark, it can be a nightmare.
“[Ousmane] Dembele’s going to run out of that space. He’s going to disappear, and then [Khvicha] Kvaratskhelia is coming in like an express train, suddenly into that space. You have to be able to read things very quickly.
“Don’t go off too deep. When you do, you’ve got to win it. It’s a difficult task to play against PSG, and this will be their most difficult game…”
Martin Keown was speaking ahead of the UEFA Champions League final, when he will be part of the coverage exclusively live on TNT Sports and HBO Max this Saturday, May 31.
