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IMAGE: Comparing Gabriel’s Stats Against Arsenal’s Other Defenders

By mac14 on January 29, 2015

Arsenal wrapped up the signing of Gabriel Paulista from Villarreal on Wednesday with the defender now expected to be in the squad to face Aston Villa on Sunday.

The versatile Brazilian can play anywhere across the back line but he’s primarily been brought in as a central defender so will compete with Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny for a starting spot.

Nacho Monreal has also filled in at centre-back this season while Calum Chambers’ future is no doubt in the middle of defence, so here we have a comparison matrix compiled at Squaka that shows how our new £11m signing compares to our current crop of centre-backs.

As you can see, Gabriel easily has the best overall defensive score and he comes out top for interceptions and tackles lost, while he also has the best success rate for tackles (see top left corner of image).

In fact the 24-year-old compares favourably on pretty much every aspect of defending. From the stats, I’d say he looks most similar in style to Koscielny but appears to be better in the aerial duels than the Frenchman.

Obviously Gabriel’s stats were compiled in a different league, but even so it certainly seems as though we’ve picked up an extremely competent defender. Let’s hope he can settle quickly as I think he’ll be pushing for a first team spot in no time.