Ben White's Highlights Vs Liverpool Prove He Is England's Most In-Form Centre-Back
Ben White produced an imperious defensive display as 10-man Arsenal kept a clean sheet in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool.
The Gunners were up against it in the first half when Granit Xhaka was sent off for a fifth time in Arsenal colours.
Xhaka, having been caught out by long pass from Andy Robertson, took out Diogo Jota in reckless fashion and was dismissed instantly by Michael Oliver in the 24th minute.
Arsenal could have quite easily folded at Anfield and had to reshuffle their backline with two subs in the first half but they defended resolutely.
Ben White vs Liverpool
— James 🇲🇦 (@189NlNE) January 14, 2022
13.01.2022 pic.twitter.com/2fGP8uNCwl
Summer signing White was their best performer by far and quite rightly received the Man of the Match trophy for his outing.
The former Brighton defender came up with a number of vital defensive contributions - including three tackles, three interceptions and three blocks - more than any other player on the pitch.
Ben White’s game by numbers vs. Liverpool:
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 13, 2022
5 clearances
3 blocked shots
3 tackles
3 interceptions
3 duels won
0x dribbled past
A rock at the back. 🪨 pic.twitter.com/Wl9Mu4a0aQ
He kept the likes of Jota and Roberto Firmino at bay, with Liverpool managing just one shot on target in 90 minutes.
White made a crucial goal-line clearance late on, while he was also very impressive with the ball at his feet and started counter attacks with three long balls.
Here you can see Ben White say “That’s what we f*cking do”. He gave his all tonight and so did the team. Proud of you all with 10 men. pic.twitter.com/O1TkLj1WTl
— GoonerViews (@GoonerViews) January 13, 2022
It was an 11th clean sheet in 22 Arsenal appearances for the England defender, who has settled in superbly after his £50 million move was questioned.
"I think we can take a lot from this," White told the official Arsenal website post-match.
"To go to 10 men here is nearly impossible to get a result and we've done that tonight and it gives ourselves a good chance.
"It was tough, you've got to concentrate the whole game, you've got runners coming from midfield, the overloads that they've had and the runs that they make it's really tough to track.
"We've come here with a gameplan and something has happened straight away so we've had to adapt and we did really well."
Next up for Arsenal is the North London derby away at Spurs on Sunday, before the semi-final second leg against Liverpool at the Emirates on 20 January.
Josh Lawless