Arsenal suffered a defeat at the hands of Liverpool but they will have to quickly get up and dust themselves because they take on Aston Villa this weekend in the Premier League.
The Gunners lost 2-0 in midweek but this result will only be a small blot in an otherwise fine run in the previous few months. Despite the loss, Arsenal are holding onto the fourth spot on the table and they still have two games in hand as compared to Man United and West Ham United.
The North London have been brilliant away from home this season and currently, they are on a four-game unbeaten run on the road. Also, they have netted nine goals in their last five matches so we can expect a goal-fest at Villa Park.
Up until now, Arsenal had been playing only one game per week but this time around they will get only two days of rest between the Liverpool and the Aston Villa games. Mikel Arteta has a very small squad so fatigue could be a major issue for him this weekend.
Arsenal team news vs Aston Villa:
The manager has only one injury concern going into this match with Tomiyasu still out with an injury but Cedric since has done a really good job in his absence, Arteta won’t be too worried.
The Arsenal boss has hinted that while Tomiyasu has returned to training but he’s still not ready to start.
Arsenal have four players in the current England national team, more representatives than any other team. #afc pic.twitter.com/WZDeasYKu9
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) March 18, 2022
He said in his press conference: “There is a chance, but we don’t know, again today in training we will see how he’s feeling.
“Because he had a reoccurring injury around the same place and then obviously after that you have to be a little more cautious sometimes.”
Emile Smith Rowe was a doubt for the Villa game but Arteta has made it clear that the youngster will be ready for this weekend’s clash.
He said: “He was fine again, he had a little issue before the game, but he’s been fine the past two days so hopefully now he can get some consistency and momentum.”
Captain Laca: "Drop and give me 50" 😂 pic.twitter.com/hnPkfkcvqx
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 18, 2022
ESR is currently down the pecking order so even if he is ready, Martinelli is still likely to start ahead of him on the left flank.
Mikel Arteta would love to rest several of his players but with such a small squad, the Arsenal manager cannot afford to make too many changes to the starting line up which played against Liverpool.
In defence, Arteta has very limited options but up front, he has players like Nicolas Pepe and Eddie Nketiah. Ideally, these players should be starting so that Laca or Saka do not pick up any unnecessary injuries but we are sure that neither of the benchwarmers will move up the pecking order on Saturday.
Arsenal predicted line up vs Aston Villa:
Predicted Starting Line up(4-2-3-1): Ramsdale; Cedric, Ben White, Gabriel, Tierney; Thomas Partey, Xhaka; Bukayo Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli/Smith Rowe; Lacazette.
