Calafiori Has the Perfect Chance to Build on His Newcastle Masterclass

In partnership with

Just Arsenal News

·24 May 2025

Calafiori Has the Perfect Chance to Build on His Newcastle Masterclass

Arsenal’s clash with Southampton could present Riccardo Calafiori with the perfect opportunity to silence any lingering doubts about his Premier League credentials and prove he can excel in central defence.

Calafiori’s 2024/25 season did not go as planned. Injuries, combined with the emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly, prevented him from fully cementing his place in the Arsenal squad. He performed decently whenever he featured, but many fans felt he had not lived up to expectations.

OneFootball Videos

Before arriving at Arsenal, Calafiori had impressed with his ability to influence play in an unorthodox role—often described as an “inverted centre-back”.

A Reminder of What Calafiori Brings

Despite being a centre-back at both club and international level, he was granted the freedom to push forward from defence and influence play.

Given how technically gifted and comfortable on the ball he is, he executed that effortlessly for Bologna and the national team.

Arsenal initially envisioned him as an inverted fullback, and while he showed flashes of brilliance in that role, injuries and Lewis-Skelly’s consistency saw him gradually slip into a squad-player status.

Some Gooners may have stopped raving about him, but it only took 45 minutes against Newcastle for him to remind them of his quality.

Replacing the injured William Saliba at half-time, he delivered a man-of-the-match display from central defence.

Gooners saw firsthand how Calafiori inverted into midfield, influencing play in a manner reminiscent of his Bologna days.

The way he overloaded the midfield left Newcastle with no answers. Remarkably, no Arsenal player carried the ball into the Magpies’ final third more than he did.

(Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

A New Partnership on the Horizon?

For many, it became evident that injuries had deprived Arsenal of such high-quality defensive performances. At JustArsenal, we raved about Calafiori’s complete display in that 1-0 win over Newcastle, but can he replicate it this weekend?

With Gabriel Magalhães still sidelined and Saliba set to miss several weeks due to a hamstring injury, Arsenal’s final game of the season will see a familiar defensive pairing. Jakub Kiwior and Calafiori are once again anticipapted to start together.

Kiwior has proved his quality in recent weeks, now it is up to Calafiori to do the same.

Slowly but surely, Cala and Kiwi could forge a formidable partnership, giving Arteta an alternative defensive setup to ease the reliance on Saliba and Gabriel.

What are your thoughts Gooners?

Daniel O

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

ADMIN COMMENT

So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….

You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.

CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…