Ten Hag makes his Winners and Losers debut as Gerrard and Liverpool keep him company

In the first of what seems likely to be many appearances in the latter column, Erik ten Hag sits among the losers. William Saliba does not.

Winners

William Saliba
The world’s most expensive centre-half might feel justified in saying he and his new teammate had “not played much together” and thus “weren’t on the same wavelength” at all times in defeat. He certainly had a point in claiming that “centre-back partnerships are built over time” and thus gradual improvement was to be expected from a base of conceding twice at home. But William Saliba scoffed at that idea with an imposing performance against Crystal Palace, displacing the £50m element of a solid Arsenal defensive pairing and vindicating three years of questionable career management.

Saliba had enjoyed a full pre-season with his new cohorts, unlike some of the Frenchman’s contemporaries at other clubs. But the ease with which he stepped into an established defence on his Premier League debut at 21, in an away game so difficult that Arsenal lost it 3-0 four months ago, and carrying immense expectation on his shoulders, was remarkable. He was assured on and off the ball, an excellent passing range and assuredness combining with zero fouls against the trickery of Wilfried Zaha, Eberechi Eze and co. The best defenders seem to take it as a personal affront not only to concede, but to allow the opposition within 10 yards of goal; Saliba embodied that trait and will only get better with experience.

Unai Emery
Forever the manager who signed Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli for Arsenal. And Stephan Lichtsteiner, Matteo Guendouzi, Nicolas Pepe, David Luiz, Dani Ceballos and Denis Suarez but shut up and be nice for once.

Aleksandar Mitrovic
There was always a relatively unfair aspect to his reputation as a typical Championship bully who struggled when picking on defenders his own size in the Premier League. Aleksandar Mitrovic scored 20 goals in 71 games during relegation seasons with Newcastle and Fulham, then three more as the Cottagers went down and the Serb was often either rotated or injured in 2020/21.

While Mitrovic has never been prolific in the top flight, nor is he perennially ineffective. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk can vouch for that. Jordan Henderson, too, when he picks himself up off the ground.

With the conditions just right and the unshakable faith of his manager flowing through him, Mitrovic led the line like most suspected he was ultimately able…