Good morning.
Today’s game sees us return to a ground where we suffered a fairly contentious defeat last season. A suspended Mikel Arteta sat in the stands at Aston Villa, Kai Havertz had a goal disallowed, Gabriel Jesus should have had a penalty, and the gravitational pull of John McGinn’s arse saw him score the only goal of the game.
We had plenty of chances that day though, but didn’t take them. Arteta was asked about the difference between the sides at his press conference yesterday, and said:
They scored and we didn’t, it’s very simple. In two games we had an enormous amount of chances to do that, and that was the big difference. There were other details for sure which we have analysed, and we will have to do better tomorrow because they are a really good side with a good coach.
I don’t think today’s team will be too different from the one which started against Wolves last weekend. The manager played down the idea of Jurrien Timber being fit enough to start, so unless he deems Riccardo Calafiori ready then it’ll be Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back, and I suspect the way Villa play with a very high line makes it more of a Gabriel Martinelli game than a Leandro Trossard game, but you never know with Arteta. He might view the Belgian as more suitable for today’s encounter, but let’s see.
As for Villa, we know what they’re about under Unai Emery who has done a good job there, but in my mind there’s a measure of revenge required today. It’s too simplistic to say the two defeats against them last season cost us the title, because we dropped points elsewhere, but that home game in particular during that incredible run we were on still stings, so I suspect that will be something this team will want to correct.
Ben White referenced that in midweek, saying:
We need to put that right and get that result this time. I’m sure we’ll do that and prepare well for it. It’s always a tough game when you get there. There are a lot of duels, it’s very aggressive. They’re very quick and want to play on the counter, so we’ve got to be ready for that.
I wonder if Villa might regret a midweek Tweet having a mild pop at Arsenal as they recalled their home win back in December. My first thought when I saw it was ‘Oh thank you, you’ve given Mikel Arteta his teamtalk’, but it goes a lot deeper than that obviously. We were good against Wolves but with some obvious rustiness, so fingers crossed a good week on the training ground will have done away with some of that, because Villa have the quality to hurt you if the make those same kinds of mistakes again.
All we can control is our own performance though, and to my mind there is sufficient quality in this squad to get a result today. It won’t be easy but I think we’re capable of taking three points back to North London. Fingers crossed.
Remember, you can join us later for live blog coverage of the match, and we’ll have all the post-game stuff on Arseblog News too.
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Elsewhere, there has been a surprise departure, with the news that Fabio Vieira is to return on loan to Porto. I guess it makes sense because he has barely played in the last 12 months, and even this summer he was deployed out on the right hand side when Ethan Nwaneri was given minutes in the central positions Vieira might have expected to feature in.
When the news dropped, I couldn’t help but think of a piece James wrote for The Athletic back in May when he said of Vieira: “His performances in training have not enabled him to sustain his position in Arteta’s pecking order.”
Reading between the lines there sounded a note of alarm about his future, and last season as we chased down Man City for the title, he played just 53 minutes in the Premier League after returning to fitness after surgery. In 10 of the 13 games he was available for, he didn’t get off the bench. At 24 he needs to play so you can understand why the deal went through, and it’s not unfair to say that his move from Porto has been a disappointment. There were flashes of his talent, but not much more than that.
I think the main beneficiary of his departure is Nwaneri whose performances in pre-season probably went some way to convincing the manager and Edu that they could let Vieira go, but as we wait for further departures (Eddie, Reiss), I think it also makes room in the squad for another player. If the strategy this summer is one out, one in, then Vieira going could see something else happen in the last week of the transfer window. Let’s see.
Right, that’s it for now. Have a good one, and I’ll catch you later for the game.
