Rasmus Hojlund claims ‘strong’ Arsenal player is the ‘anchor’ of Mikel Arteta’s entire team

Arsenal beat Napoli 1-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Despite the narrow scoreline, it was a dominant display where Arsenal generated over 4.0xG.

And of course, it’s another clean sheet for Mikel Arteta’s side, and another frustrating night for whoever was asked to lead the line against them.

Rasmus Hojlund was that man in Naples. The Danish striker, who actually made his Manchester United debut against Arsenal back in 2023, was given absolutely nothing by Gabriel and Ezri Konsa. He barely had a sniff.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, he was asked where this Arsenal side ranks among the teams he has faced — and he had glowing praise for one defender in particular.

“It’s difficult for me to rank them because obviously they’ve got a lot of good defenders. Now Mosquera out and Saliba out and they just put Konsa in, so it’s a strong side.

“Gabriel is also — I think he’s the anchor of the team — he’s really really strong, he knows how to handle a duel.

“Yeah, I think I did well today, even though I come off with nothing. But I think I held up the ball well and yeah, I think it was good for me to try against the best of the best. Even though we didn’t win.”

Gabriel and Saliba have both been deservedly nominated for the Ballon d’Or, as has Declan Rice.

The three of them were also named in the PFA Team of the Year last month, along with David Raya and Jurrien Timber.

But it’s Gabriel who Hojlund describes as the ‘anchor’ of the team. As one of Arteta’s first signings, the Brazilian is now one of Arsenal’s longest-serving players.

His aerial dominance and ability to handle the most physical strikers in the sport have been central to Arsenal becoming the best defensive side in Europe.

Of course, he missed the deciding penalty in the Champions League final in May, but he’ll be determined to make sure they get the job done next time around.