Burnley defender, Kyle Walker has expressed that it is extremely challenging to defend against Arsenal during corner situations.
He noted that William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães are formidable opponents, emphasising that their corner strategies are unconventional.
In an interview on The Overlap, Walker was asked about the difficulty of defending corners in matches against the Gunners. He promptly described the experience as horrific and unusual, stating that their movements are atypical.
“Horrific. Horrific. It’s strange, but the movement is simply not standard in football. When you are constantly glancing over your shoulder, witnessing Gabriel and Saliba, these towering six-foot-four players charging towards you.”
Reflecting on his experience against Arsenal while playing for Manchester City, Walker recounted how he was easily outmuscled by Gabriel. He mentioned that the Brazilian made a single move within the box during the corner, which was sufficient for him to evade and score.
“I recall getting beaten on a goal at City, where he attempted to make contact with me, and I was pushing him away. Suddenly, with one movement here and another behind, I lost track of him. I lost him. We were employing a zonal marking system at City, and I was assigned to mark Gabriel, thinking, ‘he’s not going to score this one, he’s not going to score this one.’ Goal.”
The Gunners currently lead the league with a total of 19 goals from set-pieces this season in the Premier League.