“I don’t think Saliba was too far off in his position with Rashford” – Rio Ferdinand feels William Saliba will be unhappy with Arsenal teammate after ‘biggest mistake’ against Manchester United

Manchester United legend and prominent pundit Rio Ferdinand believes William Saliba doesn't deserve all the blame for the Red Devils' first goal against Arsenal. The former United defender instead expected more from left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko to deny debutant Antony his first league goal for his new club.

The Brazilian forward scored after 35 minutes when he received a perfectly weighted ball from Marcus Rashford. Antony opened up his body to slot the ball past goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale into the far corner.

Ferdinand gave his opinion on Arsenal's defense while speaking on his YouTube channel "FIVE." The former England defender was quoted as saying (via The Boot Room):

“The ball got played forward and Gabriel [Magalhaes] jumps out, that’s the first mistake. He goes to ground which leaves them all at sea at the back, they’re all over the place.”

Ferdinand defended Saliba and believes that Zinchenko should have done better in that situation. The Ukrainian moved inside to challenge Rashford, leaving Antony with acres of space on the right flank. This ultimately resulted in the forward opening the scoring with virtually no pressure on him.

Ferdinand said:

“I don’t think Saliba was too far off in his position with Rashford. As a defender he’s saying to Rashford you’ve gotta beat me then score. The biggest mistake for me personally was that Zinchenko doesn’t come in and get the ball and clamp Rashford.

“If you’re going to come all the way in he has to win the ball.”

He added:

“I would have preferred the left back to say 'If he beats me, I’ll cover you.' If I was Saliba, I’d have been happy with what I’d done but I’d have been unhappy with that Zinchenko did.”

Manchester United eventually secured a 3-1 win over Arsenal to end the Gunners' perfect start to the 2022-23 season. The highlight of the game was a brace scored by Rashford along with Antony finding the back of the net on his United debut.

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Arsenal are still top of the Premier League table despite losing to Manchester United

Arsenal maintained their spot at the top of the Premier League charts despite suffering a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United.

They are still a point clear of second-placed Manchester City. Pep Guardiola's side dropped points on Saturday, September 4, after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa.

Manchester United, on the other hand, are fifth in the standings following their fourth consecutive win in the Premier League. The Red Devils have amassed 12 points from their opening six games.