11 hours ago
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Saliba & Gabriel 6th
©TM/IMAGO
Whilst, as Premier League football fans, we often wax lyrical about individual talent, it is of course a team game and unity and togetherness are often more important than singular talent. Forming key partnerships on the pitch is vital to success, and one area of the pitch where this concept is particular pivotal is at centre-back. The centre-halves often provide the backbone to a triumphant team, and having two centre-backs on the same page can be a perfect recipe for victory.
Arsenal's pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel have stolen a lot of headlines over the last 12 months for their sturdy defensive displays which have led to the Gunners challenging for the Premier League title. It's been evident again this season with Mikel Arteta's team conceding just three goals in 12 games in all competitions, with the aforementioned duo the heartbeat of their defence. But where do they rank among the best centre-back partnerships in Premier League history? To add some context to this debate, here at Transfermarkt, we have calculated the centre-half pairings to have conceded the least goals per game (gcpg) in the Premier League since its inception in the 1992/93 season. We have only included centre-backs to have played 50+ league games together. The list is full of some of the greatest central defenders to grace the English game and some partnerships that have stood the test of time.
CB pairings with the least goals conceded per game in Premier League history
Leading the way, perhaps unsurprisingly, is one of the all-time most respected centre-half pairings in Manchester United duo, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, who played 120 Premier League games together, and had a record of just 0.71gcpg. In second place is the famous Arsenal pair at the back in Tony Adams and Martin Keown, who played 79 league games alongside each other, with 0.73gcpg. Third is perhaps more of a shock - it's taken by Arsenal's centre-back pairing for their invincible season in 2003/04, in Sol Campbell and Kolo Touré. They played 59 league games together and also conceded just 0.73gcpg.
In fourth are the notorious Chelsea centre-back pairing of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, who played 85 Premier League games together with just 0.76gcpg. They are followed in fifth by Man City's Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott, who in 58 games, also had 0.76gcpg. Sixth now goes to Saliba and Gabriel, who have already played 93 Premier League games together at centre-back for Arsenal, with just 0.78gcpg - if they keep up their current conceding rate this season they could be set to climb up this list further. In seventh are Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip with 0.81gcpg in 72 league games.
Eighth spot goes to Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger, who in 55 Premier League games, had a record of 0.84gcpg for Liverpool. They are followed in ninth by the Tottenham pairing of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, who played 93 league games alongside one and other and conceded 0.88gcpg. Completing the top 10 Carragher pops up again - this time alongside Sami Hyypiä with a record of 0.96gcpg from 54 matches.
