William Saliba: We Have To Win Trophies With Arsenal To Be Even Better

Arsenal make their long-awaited return to the Emirates to face Leeds United after a victory on the road saw them overcome Manchester United at Old Trafford in their Premier League opener last Sunday.

Mikel Arteta gave Premier League debuts to Martin Zubimendi and Viktor Gyokeres in the Gunners' 1-0 win, with Riccardo Calafiori's first-half header proving to be the difference. 

The North Londoners are unbeaten in their last 14 meetings with Saturday's opposition and will be eager to open their account at home for the 2025-26 campaign.

Ahead of this side's first home game of the season, William Saliba discussed his club's title aspirations, having finished second over the last three campaigns in the top-flight. 

"Of course, we've finished second for three years in a row, and we know that we always miss something," Saliba said. "Now it's a new season, we have to see what we didn't do well enough to win the league.

"We won the first game, and, of course, we want to win the league, and we will give everything. We have to try to be even better than the last three seasons to win this league.”

The Frenchman, who starred at the heart of the Arsenal defence during only the club's third league win away at United in their last 19 attempts, emphasised Arsenal's ambition this term, saying: "We want to score in any context - set pieces, counter-attack, everything. We have to give everything, and we know that we can win every time.

"Of course, we knew that we didn't play our best football, but at the end we knew that it was the first game at Old Trafford with some new signings from them.

"We just miss trophies. We play good, we are good, but we miss trophies, and we have to win trophies with Arsenal to be even better."

Meanwhile, Daniel Farke's newly promoted Leeds also got off to a winning start on Monday when they prevailed over David Moyes' new-look Everton, thanks to an 84th-minute penalty from Lukas Nmecha.

The Elland Road side recorded a clean sheet in their first league match of the season for the first time in 13 years, their last being a 1-0 win over Wolves in the Championship back in August 2012.

And Farke believed his side were deserving of all three points, saying: "I think overall in a tight game, a hard-fought win but also a well-deserved win from my side.

"Outstanding performance. I think we were very dominant in the first half and had nearly 70 per cent possession, 12 shots already in the first half.

"I was a bit worried because especially as a newly promoted side, once you have such a dominant period, and it was more or less the whole first half that we dominated, normally you have to reward yourself also with the goal because at Premier League level one little moment can change your whole momentum.

"An experienced side like Everton can come into the game and take advantage, score a goal, and then the whole story is more like you get praise for the performance, but no points on the board."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Arsenal – Viktor Gyokeres

Despite turning in an underwhelming debut and not managing a single shot in a league match for the first time since April 2023, Gyokeres has demonstrated his goalscoring pedigree over the course of several seasons.

The big Swede was on the scoresheet in 39 instances in the league for Sporting CP during the 2024-25 season, ranking first for most goals scored in the Primeira Liga and recording the most goals in a single top-flight season in Portugal since Jardel's 42 goals for Sporting in 2001-02.

Leeds - Lukas Nmecha

Nmecha only tallied three goals in 19 appearances for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga last season, though he was sidelined for a substantial portion of the campaign through injury.

Having signed for Leeds on a free transfer this summer, the German went on to score in his bow for the club, becoming the first Leeds substitute to score on his Premier League debut since Alan Smith in November 1998.

The 26-year-old forward will be hoping he can continue where he left off on Monday when his side visit the Emirates Stadium. 

MATCH PREDICTION: ARSENAL WIN

Arsenal have remained unbeaten in their last 42 Premier League home matches against promoted teams (37 wins and 5 draws), with their last defeat coming as a 1-0 loss to Newcastle in November 2010.

If Arteta's side avoid defeat in their upcoming game, they will match Chelsea's record for the longest unbeaten home streak against promoted sides in the competition, which lasted 43 games from 2001 to 2015.

The Gunners are also unbeaten in their last 14 meetings with Leeds in all competitions (W12 D2), winning each of the last six in a row.

Leeds, meanwhile, have struggled away at Arsenal, losing 10 of their last 12 Premier League games there, with just two wins, and have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 14 visits.

Additionally, Leeds have lost 23 of their last 30 league matches played away in London (four wins and three draws). In the Premier League specifically, they are on a seven-game losing streak away from home, dating back to a 2-1 victory over Brentford on the final day of the 2021-22 season.

But their performance against Everton will give them confidence. Leeds are looking to win their opening two Premier League games in a season for the first time since 2002-03 under Terry Venables.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Arsenal – 70.4%

Draw –17.2%

Leeds –12.5%