Having gotten their campaign off to a winning start against Wolves, Arsenal will be hoping to continue their good form when they take on Aston Villa on Saturday. Unai Emery’s side is a tricky customer to face especially away from home and Mikel Arteta will know that he needs to get his team selection spot on at Villa Park.
It’s noteworthy that Aston Villa got the better of Arsenal in both games last season. They beat Arsenal 1-0 at home before coming to the Emirates to secure a 2-0 win. Mikel Arteta will surely want to take corrective measures and ensure what happened last season doesn’t repeat itself this time.
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Unai Emery’s side weren’t at their best against West Ham United but still managed to secure a 2-1 win. That said, expect Villa to step up when the big game comes. The Spanish tactician would love to get one over his former team yet again and would motivate his team to give their best.
CONSIDERING ALL FACTORS, HERE’S HOW ARSENAL COULD LINEUP AGAINST ASTON VILLA
GOALKEEPER: DAVID RAYA
The easiest position to predict. Last season’s golden glove winner David Raya has started this season off with an impressive clean sheet against the Wolves. The Spaniard’s distribution was on point last weekend and he will know that he is likely to have a busier game against Villa than the one he had last weekend.
DEFENCE: WHITE, SALIBA, GABRIEL, TIMBER
Three out of the four slots pick themselves with Arteta likely to persist with Ben White at right-back and the William Saliba-Gabriel partnership in central defence. The question arises when it comes to left-back. Oleksandr Zinchenko started Arsenal’s season opener but Villa exploited his lack of pace defensively last time around, pinging balls towards his side and using their pacy wingers to torment the Ukrainian.
Thus, it is highly likely that Mikel Arteta takes that bullet out of Villa’s chambers and starts Jurrien Timber as the left-back on the night. The ex-Ajax man is returning from a long-term injury and will be keen to get his Arsenal career going. He is more defensively sound than Zinchenko and is also good on the ball. Having played as a defensive midfielder at Ajax, the 23-year-old should be comfortable inverting into midfield. The other option is to start Riccardo Calafiori at left-back but Arteta is unlikely to throw the youngster into the deep end in a game of this magnitude.
MIDFIELD: ODEGAARD, JORGINHO, RICE
Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard are nailed down to start as the two #8s on the night. Arteta’s question arises when it comes to the holding #6. Thomas Partey had a decent game against Wolves but the Spanish tactician could choose to deploy Jorginho who is much better on the ball in this role against Villa. Alternatively, Arteta could deploy Rice as the #6 and use Kai Havertz as a hybrid #8 and task him with operating as a shadow striker although that is unlikely.
ATTACK: SAKA, HAVERTZ, MARTINELLI
Arsenal started against Wolves with Bukayo Saka from the right, Kai Havertz through the middle and Gabriel Martinelli from the left. Saka scored and assisted once and so did Havertz, nailing down their starting roles for the Villa game. The only question Arteta could have in mind is starting Leandro Trossard over Martinelli but that is unlikely to happen after just one game. Expect Arteta to go with an unchanged front three.
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So much love for our Bukayo ❤️ pic.twitter.com/0aJ11kADBF
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 18, 2024
Arsenal predicted lineup vs Aston Villa (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Jorginho, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
