Arsenal quickly bounced back from their defeat in the North London derby last weekend to beat Premier League champions Liverpool 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Many players shone against the Merseysiders – Alexandre Lacazette scored one goal and assisted the other for Reiss Nelson, who received a lot of praise from Newcastle legend Alan Shearer.
Another player who has earned plaudits from the match is Rob Holding, who was brought in for the fixture at the Emirates Stadium and was subsequently lauded by former Arsenal forward Ian Wright.
Speaking on Match of the Day (via Metro), the ex-Gunners star said: “Rob Holding for me today, I loved the way he stood up to Mane. He had a little dig at him there and it’s great to see he stood up and it’s great to see an Arsenal defender showing that kind of fight.”
The English centre-back has only played six times in the Premier League this campaign, via Transfermarkt, and it was his first start since last month’s 2-0 victory against Southampton.
This highlights that it was a big game for the player, who is valued at £8.55m by Transfermarkt, as he needed to step up and show Mikel Arteta that he can perform in the starting XI, and his statistics from the match show why the praise from Wright was well deserved.
Holding received a 7.0 rating from SofaScore, which was the best out of the defensive back five, and managed to make seven clearances, block two shots, win two tackles and win five of his six aerial duels plus two of his three ground duels, per SofaScore.
This highlights how strong an all-round performance the 24-year-old gave and he should be able to take huge confidence from that, along with the praise from Wright, as he tries to hold down a regular place in Arteta’s first XI.
Gunners fans, what are your thoughts on Holding’s performance against Liverpool? Should he be in the starting XI more regularly? Comment below with your views!
