Gunners Survive Villa Task

The Gunners had a nine day rest period before their fixture with Aston Villa. They watched some rivals maintain their perfect starts, while some dropped points. Sometimes the wait can prove costly, so Arsenal were hoping this wasn't one of those moments. Villa Park has generated mixed success over the years, but we know that Unai Emery can make things difficult for the Gunners. Let's see how Arsenal got on.

First Half

It was a cagey opening to the game, leaning towards Villa controlling possession. No openings could be made, so it ended up being Arsenal with the first couple of chances. Myles Lewis-Skelly had space open up for him so he let fly with an effort, but was blocked and diverted away from the goal. The resulting corner then saw Gabriel mistime a header that he should've directed on target, given the Villa keeper missed his punched clearance. Shortly after, Villa had their first effort on goal. It came after a dubious tackle from a Villa attacker that recycled into Emi Buendia's possession. His snapshot rattled the crossbar. The next chance didn't come until the around the 30th minute when Ian Maatsen's effort sailed harmlessly wide, despite finding himself in a promising position. Outside of some teasing corners from Arsenal and a couple of counter attacks from Villa, it was a largely uneventful half.

Second Half

With a bland first half under the belts, Arsenal needed to up the ante. But, it was Villa that found the first opportunity. Maasten again found some space in the box, but his shot rippled the side netting. Following that was another period of inactivity. Arsenal kept possession fairly well, but with no penetration. That was until a penalty was called in the 54th minute. Saka was clumsily brought down by Maasten, but the decision was overturned as the foul occurred outside the area. The resulting free kick was sent a whisker wide of the post by Martin Odegaard. Just a couple of minutes later, Arsenal found their breakthrough. Cristian Mosquera held possession for a little while outside the box. He then fizzed a pass into Eberechi Eze's feet, who then helped the ball on to Calafiori who had darted into the box. The Italian reached the ball, at a stretch, before the defender and flashed it across the goal. Bukayo Saka was on hand to bundle the ball home. Arsenal couldn't really engineer much following that goal, but they comfortably knocked the ball around. Villa were growing frustrated, but Arsenal were holding their nerve. The North London side did test Zion Suzuki again, but Kai Havertz's effort was straight at him. That was fundamentally it. Villa probed, but it was largely dealt with by the resilient Gunners defence. Bruno Guimaraes did have a penalty claim turned down in injury time, but that was it. 1-0 Arsenal.

Statistics

It wasn't a vintage attacking performance, but it was enough. Mikel Arteta's men had 7 shots with 2 on target. That created an xG of 1.04 with 2 big chances created. Villa also had 7 shots, but none were on target. They created 0.33xG with 0 big chances.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Raya - 6 - Villa didn't have a shot on target, so I can only judge Raya on his general play. He was assured when claiming crosses and provided extra support as a passing option.

White - 5 - Not his best outing, but I wouldn't say he was ripped to shreds by Villa's attack. It's just that 90% of their chances came down White's flank. He also wasn't effective in attack.

Mosquera - 7 - I think he had a good game. He often had to deal with an attacking overload due to Calafiori and White venturing forward so much. It was also his pass that set up the goal.

Gabriel - 7 - He worked well with Mosquera as they both dealt with Nicholas Jackson's threat. Another clean sheet for the pair.

Calafiori - 8 (MOTM) - If he can stay fit then he's going to be so crucial for us this season. His ability to affect our attack is superb. He grabbed the assist.

Rice - 7.5 - Excellent out of possession and while screening the back line. His work to snuff out danger is the best in the league and it's a big reason why we get so many clean sheets.

Lewis-Skelly - 6 - He was okay, but couldn't really impose himself. He was trying to find openings to punch the ball through, but Villa were too compact.

Odegaard - 4 - He didn't do enough to affect the match. He was contained quite easily. I also hate it when he completely bottles a tackle. He done it a couple of times and needed Rice to mop up.

Tzolis - 3 - He was marked out of the game by Matty Cash. Sorry for the pun, but Cash left him no change. He picked up a yellow and almost turned it red. Tzolis looks promising still, but he's going to have to adjust to that sort of defending.

Havertz - 4 - Last week he scored a well taken goal, this week he missed two big chances. One-on-one with the keeper and he missed both. His blushes were spared by the offside flag on both occasions. That was another disappointing element to his game, he was caught offside far too much. He needs to work on timing his runs.

Saka - 7 - He scored the goal, but wasn't amazing outside of that. He tried to carve out some chances, but was either tackled or it came to nothing.

Subs

Eze - 7 - Changed the game. He gave Cash more to deal with and he couldn't handle it. His movement freed up space for Calafiori to get into the box to get his assist. When Aaron Wan-Bissaka came on, he became ineffective.

Merino - 7 - He moves slowly, but he's so effective in recycling possession. He puts himself about and he was a big reason behind us strolling to a win.

Bruno - 7 - We're seeing more and more what he'll bring to this Arsenal side and it makes me excited. Two line-breaking passes deserved more from them. Havertz drifted unnecessarily offside and Saka couldn't get his cut-back right.

Konsa - 6 - Calm and composed despite the jeers from the home crowd. He helped us keep the clean sheet.

Zubimendi - 6 - He was effective in defending in front of the defence. Villa couldn't find a way past him and he provided a couple of important defensive contributions.

Verdict

It wasn't a vintage attacking performance. We did struggle to create chances and that's maybe an indicator of what's to come in tough away games. However, I never really felt in danger of losing. Villa couldn't sustain a threat and that's a credit for our work as a defensive force. I'm sure we'll have better performances as the season rolls on, but I can't say I'm not a little concerned about the lack of attacking reinforcements. Just Christos Tzolis. That's despite losing Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus. Having said that, it's two wins from two and we're up on last season as we lost at Villa Park.

Arsenal vs Chelsea: Predicted Lineup

We have pretty much a week until our match with Chelsea. Obviously it's going to be a much bigger test compared to what we've had so far. However, I can't envisage a real shake up of the team that's won twice and conceded nothing. We're not 100% sure whether Mosquera will be fit, but I do think we'll go for Ezri Konsa's experience here. I'd like to think that Bruno Guimaraes will be fit enough to start, but it'd be harsh to bench Myles Lewis-Skelly. However, you can't bench Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard will normally always get the nod if he's fit. It does mean we have Myles to bring on. Our attack was very average against Villa, but maybe with the home crowd they'll find their feet. Chelsea are suspect defensively, but incredible going forward. Something we'll need to keep an eye on. Let's get it!