Arsenal fans will laugh at what Jamie O’Hara just said about Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba
William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are instrumental to Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premier League.
The incredible defensive duo have helped Arsenal become arguably Europe’s best defence, having not conceded a goal since September 28 against Newcastle United.
That is a record-equalling eight matches after Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 3-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Mikel Arteta’s watertight defence, marshalled by Gabriel and Saliba, is leagues ahead of their Premier League title rivals.
But despite becoming a formidable partnership at the back, former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara has made a claim that will shock Arsenal fans.
Jamie O’Hara thinks Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are better than William Saliba and Gabriel
Most neutrals accept that Gabriel and Saliba are the division’s best partnership, with the Gunners only conceding three goals in their last 16 matches.
Gabriel’s aggression and aerial ability are a perfect foil for Saliba’s pace and ability to read the game, something that has only skyrocketed in 2025/26.
However, O’Hara thinks Tottenham’s Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are a better pairing than Arsenal’s defensive masters.
“I’m gonna stick to my guns and say yes,” he said when asked his opinion on who is better during a Sky Sports discussion.
“The reason being, Arsenal defensively are incredible as a unit, as a team, they’re brilliant, Spurs are not. But I think the two centre halves are absolutely fantastic.”
“I think if you were going to take two of them out and put two of them in, I think [Micky] van de Ven’s got more about him than Gabriel, and I think [Cristian] Romero is on par with [William] Saliba.”
Van de Ven made the headlines for scoring an outrageous solo goal during Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Copenhagen, but the Dutchman isn’t a better all-round defender than Gabriel, and the same applies to Romero and Saliba.
Matt Le Tissier’s verdict on Gabriel
A key reason why Arsenal are Premier League title favourites is their strength from set-pieces, with Gabriel leading their threat from corners and free kicks.
The Brazilian has scored two and assisted three in all competitions this term and remains one of the best at heading home opportunities.
Matt Le Tissier recently spoke about Gabriel to Football Insider and waxed lyrical over his incredible consistency.
“The third one, for me, would be Gabriel, at the back,” Le Tissier said.
“I think he is an incredibly consistent performer, I think he is a very good organiser, and he very rarely makes mistakes. That is key if you’re going to be a good centre-back in the Premier League when you are playing against top-quality opposition week-in, week-out.”