94.4% pass accuracy, 6 clearances: £40k-a-week Arsenal ace needs more minutes after tonight

By Giuseppe Labellarte

Arsenal defender Rob Holding delivered a decent display in Thursday’s Europa League win over Bodo/Glimt.

The £40,000-a-week ace is having to make do with the occasional cup outing this season.

It’s not massively surprising, given he has William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Ben White ahead of him.

Nonetheless, Holding is doing well as cover in a season where strength in depth is absolutely essential.

Arsenal are fighting on four fronts and, with the World Cup bisecting the season, there are a lot of games in a short space of time.

Gabriel was given a rest, remaining an unused substitute as Holding featured alongside William Saliba.

The 27-year-old was good in possession for the most part and made a number of important clearances.

That said, there was a shaky moment as he was caught out under a long ball.

This led to Amahl Pellegrino racing through for home side’s best chance.

But Holding was good apart from that moment, and clocked up some decent stats during the match.

As per Whoscored, he made one tackle and six clearances, while also playing five accurate long balls from seven.

Holding also took 84 touches of the ball, won three aerial challenges, and made 72 passes with an accuracy of 94.4 percent.

The £2million man has played the full 90 minutes in all three of his side’s Europa League games so far.

However, Arteta could do with using him more often in the Premier League too.

This would enable him to shake off whatever rust he has, while also giving the defenders higher up the pecking order more of a break as games come thick and fast.