Functional Arsenal get the job done at Villa Park

Compared to the walk in the park that was our opening weekend win against Coventry, this was always going to be a sterner test than a newly promoted side, and so it transpired as such a thing last night in Birmingham.

We all know that Villa have been decimated. We know they have lost a chunk of their first-team players, and that those Villa fans would be up for a night under the lights as their first home game of the season, so perhaps we needed to also temper any hopes of an absolute battering. That was never feasible, and yet as I sat there watching the match unfold, I still had that expectation. We were the settled side, the unchanged side, the champions. We should have put them to the sword.

It’s true that they barely threatened. Even the Buendia chance off the bar wouldn’t have counted, because there was clearly a foul on Tzolis in the build-up, but conversely, it felt like we were equally sluggish. In that first half, we struggled to find an answer to Villa’s high line and compacting of space between defence, midfield and attack. We retained the ball, had two-thirds of it in the first half, forced Suzuki into one good stop and had four shots, but it all felt a little stodgy to my eyes. Problems of breaking down teams from last season felt like they were being rehashed from 2025/26.

I thought a lot was being made of commentary about our set pieces, for which one header from Gabriel was massively off target after Suzuki had flapped at the ball, but we didn’t quite get the opportunities that we normally do. Is that because of this new rule on holding? Perhaps. I saw basically every team do it this past weekend, but if there’s a team to make an example of with this rule, then it’ll be Arsenal before anyone else, so perhaps that’s why we’re deliberately being extra non-holding-y after the first two games?

Whatever it is, the set pieces were not going to be our avenue on the night, so we had to rely on a really well-worked open-play goal to be the difference. And Bukayo Saka – so often the guy who was missing or didn’t quite look at it last season- once again stepped forward and delivered ned product when we needed it. It was a proper poacher’s finish from Saka; getting into that spot in the six-yard box after the ball was worked well by Eze and Calafiori on the right. If we can keep him fit for most of this season, he – and we – will surely feel like he should be good for around 25-30 goals and assists. He’s already bagged two in the Premier League so far, so it is a good and positive sign based on what we have witnessed. I loved his little tap to the gold Premier League badge too. Nice.

There’s not a ton of other things to talk about based on the evening. It feels very much like an early-season ‘functional’ win that Arsenal needed. But there were some individual performances and maybe a tactical question or two for Mikel Arteta to ponder before we play Chelsea next Sunday. Firstly, on the tactical side, and it’s easy for me to sit here today and pick holes with the benefit of hindsight. But I did think that we perhaps didn’t quite have the right personnel on the pitch for the game. Villa’s high line needed to have somebody from deep acting as a quarterback for runners in behind. Havertz got in twice in the game – both times flagged offside – but failed to slot the ball into the net. Big Vik can be clunky; we know he’s not the most technically gifted, and he’d certainly have been caught out with a few offsides last night, but he also would have just kept on making that run again and again. And eventually those runs are timed well, and he’s in. And whilst I love Kai and think he’s the better all-around centre forward, I would probably have given Gyokeres minutes. Maybe even 30 minutes in that second half, because he’d have kept on making those runs. Then it’s on somebody to distribute from deep, and I think somebody like Zubimendi (assuming Bruno wasn’t 100% fit) could have been that guy. I’m nitpicking, though, because ultimately we still dominated in practically all metrics across both halves.

I thought Kai also had a pretty poor game. His two big chances may have been offside, but you still have to put them away. He was also quiet. If I’m going to call out Gyokeres when he is anonymous in these types of games, you have to do the same for Havertz. Likewise, I don’t think we saw enough of Odegaard on the ball. He put a nice ball in to Havertz for one of the offside chances in the first half, but other than that I don’t remember him dictating the game as he did in the Community Shield and last week against Coventry. Some of that might have been because of the congested nature of the game in the middle of the park; Odegaard is best in between the spaces of defence and midfield and last night there was essentially zero space there, so it kind of negated him a bit. But that’s perhaps – and again I’m nitpicking because ultimately we won and were the dominant side – where you realise it and try to switch his profile out for another earlier in the second half?

Tzolis too, didn’t have a great one, and found himself on the periphery after he picked up a yellow for Cash falling to the floor easily in the first half. John McGinn did John McGinn things by trying to get a fellow professional sent off after going down under a Tzolis challenge when he was already on a yellow, but it was never going to end up in a second yellow for the Greek. Nevertheless, Arteta rightly hooked him at halftime and his replacement Eze had a much improved performance. It’s perhaps ironic, because last season it was Eze who got hooked at Villa, who came on and looked like he should be taking the jersey off Tzolis for next week. He was involved in the goal, he was drifting into the right spaces, and I think it will certainly give Arteta food for thought. I know we are linked with Fofana from Lyon, but Eze deserves a shot on the left I reckon – let’s see what he can deliver because based on last night’s second half, he’ll offer something different to Tzolis. And that’s not a bad thing.

It’s Transfer Deadline Day today, so there will no doubt be some stuff to talk about – whether we sign anyone or not – so I’ll leave it there and be back tomorrow with some post-window thoughts. We’ll also be doing a pod towards the end of the day today, so come and check out the chat tonight at 5.45pm if you fancy it.