Arsenal vs Aston Villa: Melon Time?

Yes, it’s a funny little typo, so I’m doing a bit of reverse superstition and throwing it right up there. Will he feature at all today? No idea. Emery’s usually pretty slow to work players in, so maybe Leon gets the nod and Malen gets some minutes at the end. Depending on how things are going.

And yes, another tough fixture after a couple ‘easier’ ones that helped Villa find their feet again. Is it asking too much for Villa to log a second away win in a week? Maybe so. But if Tielemans is any guide, the occasion might get the team’s attention from the off.

Naturally, Villa will travel to a side with title aspirations that find themselves, according to the papers at least, in a bit of a panic. Has Arteta’s Golden Era already gone wrong? They need to win 10 in a row! So many column-inches devoted to where Arsenal thought they might be versus where they are. Which, in the end, is just four points behind Liverpool, having played one more, and the second-best goal differential in the league.

Villa, on the other hand, find themselves needing to make up similar ground to get back in the Champions League conversation. Newcastle aren’t much of a surprise, but Forest and Bournemouth are the two sides looking to cock things up for us. At the same time, Villa, as wobbly as they’ve been at times, are just three points out of fourth as afternoon games get underway. We could use the points just as much as the Arse.

So, it’s well poised to be, well, significant in terms of both sides’ ambitions, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be an exciting match. And I’ve a feeling Villa will want an exciting one much less than Arsenal. This one begs for a calm, solid start, no early miscues to let Arsenal get up a head of steam, and then doing our thing at parity. We’re no longer a surprise, there’s actually a little history between the clubs now, and Villa need to play this like a CL match.

Starting lineups are still an hour away as I write, and I doubt Emery is going to swap Ollie and Jhon given he sat Duran the full 90 at Everton to make a point. However. You wouldn’t bet against the big guy being a hero at some point. Malen is interesting because a) no one can guess where he’ll end up playing, and b) because Bailey has been so unproductive and, indeed, a liability. With Philogene gone, Carlos sidelined pending a deal with Fenerbahce, and a very young Garcia only just signed, I’m guessing we’ll see Cash at RB, Konsa and Mings in the middle since we can’t really play with Konsa at RB to push Cash up. So, while we know that new signings don’t usually start for Emery straight away, today could be an exception. And with Malen perhaps having a small point to make, might not be the worst idea. He’s been playing, so he does have the minutes in his legs.

We’ll soon see. I’m not terribly optimistic today given our up-and-down form, but we do have less pressure on us than the Gunners. They’re in the spotlight, Arteta is somehow under some species of pressure (which is likely all media driven), and they’ll want to make up a little ground.

So again, frustrate, blunt their edge to start, then look to score from a solid platform. I was a bit surprised Emery left the starters on for virtually the entire 90 against Everton, so we’ll see what’s in the tank. The positioning of Youri and Rogers will be the primary point of tweaking. I’d imagine Bouba and Onana are paired up again, with Onana needing to be a little less reckless. Will be a big game for them both.

On the other side, Arteta’s got bigger problems than Barkley and McGinn being unavailable: Jesus, Saka, Nwaneri, White, Tomiyasu, and Calafiori are all out.

Apparently, Arsenal haven’t lost at home since we beat them 2-0 last season. Streaks are made to broken, and perhaps this is the right time to play them and pull another upset. You know Emery wouldn’t mind.

Over to you.