Arsenal are working hard on Gabriel’s fitness ahead of this weekend’s match against Crystal Palace after the centre-back was sent off in midweek’s 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid.
Gabriel’s fitness is a major concern as Arsenal look to build on their impressive defensive record. The Gunners defender has not trained fully since midweek when he was forced off with a thigh problem in the 4-0 Champions League win over Atletico Madrid.
That worries him ahead of Sunday’s clash with Crystal Palace at the Emirates, as Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal hope to extend their impressive record of six successive wins in all competitions. Arsenal have also conceded just three goals in eight Premier League games this season, and could close in on Chelsea’s record of conceding just 15 goals in an entire season when they won the title in 2004/05.
But clearly they will be hoping that Gabriel, who scored and assisted against Atletico, will be fit to face Palace.
“Big Gabi had a problem and had to leave the pitch, but he hasn’t been able to train yet. So we’ll see how he develops in the next 24 hours, whether he’s available at the weekend or not,” Arteta said.
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It was Sir Alex Ferguson who famously said: “Strikers win games, but defensemen win titles” and Arteta has admitted he wants to chase further history by making his side even harder to lose.
Arteta laughed at the irony that the best defense usually wins the title, as Arsenal conceded fewer goals than champions Liverpool last season.
But Arteta said: “Certainly we hope that in the end this kind of record, which we have achieved a lot, will bring us the silverware and trophies that we want, but of course the more we can produce, the closer we will be to achieving what we want to do.”
“And that defensive record is very good, but we have to be consistent. It’s still early in the season and the goal is to continue to improve on what we still can do, a lot of things.”
“Going back to the history of football in general, with the exception of the last three seasons in the Premier League, it’s almost always the team that has the best defensive record. They usually win the league because we did. So go against those statistics. But the stronger that foundation is, the greater the odds of winning the game.”
“But in football, there are too many ifs, ifs, ifs. It’s already unpredictable. So on top of that, you put the ifs. Then it becomes very difficult to concentrate on what we’re doing, which we’re doing consistently well.”
“If we can improve, let’s see where we are at the end of the season. We’ve been consistently good. And if we can improve on those, let’s see where we are at the end of the season.”
“Obviously, this is a very positive thing. It’s the first time in our history that something like this has happened. Just imagine how difficult it is to do that. So, yeah, I’m very, very happy to be able to perform at that level, especially in a really important part of the game. And now it’s about continuing to do that.”
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