“We haven’t seen the best of him” - Nigel Winterburn claims Arsenal have player similar to Van Dijk 

Former Arsenal defender Nigel Winterburn has likened centre-back William Saliba to Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.

Saliba put in a Player of the Match performance in the Gunners' goalless draw against Manchester City at the Etihad on March 31. He has been key in the north London side's Premier League title challenge this season, helping them keep 12 clean sheets in 29 league games so far.

Winterburn recently compared Saliba to Van Dijk, saying on Football365:

“I see a little bit of Virgil van Dijk in Saliba. He has that turn of pace, he is comfortable playing out under pressure and I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen the best of him. He is still so young, but he is already playing at a very high level."

Reflecting on Saliba's performance against Manchester City, Winterburn said:

“Saliba was superb at the weekend against Manchester City in what was a magnificent defensive team performance. We built the game up and we were thinking it was going to be a classic with a lot of goals, but it didn’t work out like that and Arsenal deserved credit for restricting City and denying them the space to do what they do so well."

He added:

“Arsenal were superb defensively and while they may have missed a few chances to gain some momentum going forward, it was an outstanding effort to stop Manchester City. I’m not sure I’ve seen an Arsenal team play that well defensively for a long time.

"When you look at the recent history of matches between Arsenal and Man City, a draw at the Etihad is always a good result, even if it did hand Liverpool the initiative in the title race for now.”

Saliba joined the Gunners from St.-Etienne in 2019 but spent time out on loan at St.-Etienne, OGC Nice and Marseille before moving to the Emirates in 2022. He has helped them keep 23 clean sheets in 56 games across competitions.

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Arsenal's remaining fixtures this season

The Gunners are currently competing in two competitions - Premier League and UEFA Champions League. They are second in the English top flight, two points behind leaders Liverpool and one above Manchester City. They will next host relegation-battling Luton Town at the Emirates on Wednesday, April 3.

The north London side will then face Brighton & Hove Albion away before hosting Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on April 9. They will then host Aston Villa before the UCL quarter-final second leg at Bayern on April 17. The winner of the tie will face either Real Madrid or Manchester City in the semi-finals.

In the Premier League, meanwhile, Arsenal will face Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Bournemouth, Manchester United and Everton. Having finished second behind City last time around, they will hope to win their first title in 20 years this time.