WHAT a week it’s been for Gabriel (£5.2m).
Not only did Arsenal’s No6 contribute to clean sheets against Fulham and Atletico Madrid, he exhibited his set-piece prowess to great effect in both fixtures.
It was Gabriel who found Leandro Trossard (£4.2m) with a near-post flick from Bukayo Saka’s (£6.3m) corner for the Gunners’ winning goal at Craven Cottage.
And then on Tuesday night, the Brazil international broke the deadlock against Diego Simeone’s side with a trademark header from an inch-perfect Declan Rice (£5.1m) free-kick.
His goal opened the floodgates at the Emirates as the hosts added another three in the following 13 minutes.
Arsenal’s fourth and final goal was put on a plate for Viktor Gyokeres (£5.4m) by a Gabriel knockdown to underline the North Londoners’ set-piece supremacy.
Two clean sheets, two assists and a goal resulted in 29 points for Gabriel in Gameweek 8.
At the time of writing, he is the joint-top performer of the Gameweek alongside goal machine Erling Haaland (£7.9m).
In fact, Manchester City’s prolific poacher is the only player above Gabriel in the overall rankings right now.
DREAM TEAM TOP PERFORMERS THIS SEASON
- 143 pts – Erling Haaland
- 97 pts – Gabriel
- 96 pts – Jurrien Timber
- 80 pts – Daniel Munoz
- 77 pts – Antoine Semenyo
Gabriel’s mega haul this Gameweek has propelled him above Timber, who hardly slacked off with 17 points of his own across the two outings.
What’s interesting is that Gabriel is just the eighth-most popular Arsenal player in Dream Team.
His ownership of 10.4% is more than respectable – only eight defenders appear in more teams – but he will surely experience a significant popularity surge now he has ascended to such a lofty status.
Riccardo Calafiori (£4.2m) is the most selected Arsenal defender at present, he features in 26.5% of teams.
This is partly because he is more affordable than the likes of Timber, Gabriel and William Saliba (£5.4m) but the 23-year-old is a good option for other reasons.
Nominally a left-back, Calafiori pops up in unusual areas and is capable of moments of quality in the final third — he had a goal disallowed for offside against Fulham but the finish was immaculate.
The Italian scored the winner at Old Trafford back in Gameweek 1 and has registered two assists since.
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However, while Calafiori is first choice at left-back, he has shared some of his minutes with Myles Lewis-Skelly (£3.6m).
The young England defender has started Arsenal’s last two Champions League games, meaning Calafiori missed out on clean sheets against Olympiakos and Atletico.
His total of 65 points is very healthy but it’s simply true that he’s now 31 points behind Timber and 32 shy of Gabriel.
Looking ahead to Gameweek 9, Arsenal will host Crystal Palace in the league before welcoming Brighton to the Emirates in the Carabao Cup last 16.
Calafiori is likely to start against the Eagles but it wouldn’t be a surprise if Lewis-Skelly got the nod in midweek.
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