Arsenal v Aston Villa

Arsenal player ratings v Aston Villa – No player stood out

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Arsenal played out a 2–2 draw against Aston Villa this evening after going two goals up. Here are our player ratings:

David Raya – 5.5
Raya made some important saves but looked shaky and lacked confidence, which unsettled his defence.

Thomas Partey – 4.5
A poor performance from Partey, who almost gifted Watkins a goal with a disastrous throw-in and allowed the striker to score later on.

Myles Lewis-Skelly – 6.5
Another assured and composed showing from the youngster, who continues to impress.

Gabriel Magalhães – 7.0
Despite the absence of his regular defensive partner, Gabriel handled Watkins well and put in a strong display.

Jurrien Timber – 7.0
Though not playing in his natural position, Timber adapted well to the centre-back role and looked comfortable throughout.

Martin Odegaard – 6.0
After a stellar performance against Tottenham, Odegaard struggled to impose himself and was largely anonymous in this game.

Mikel Merino – 5.0
Merino came alive in the closing stages and nearly won the match, but his overall contribution fell short of expectations.

Declan Rice – 7.0
Rice was once again Arsenal’s standout midfielder, excelling in both defensive and attacking phases.

Leandro Trossard – 7.0
Trossard was Arsenal’s most dangerous player, creating chaos in Villa’s defence and assisting both goals. However, his late miss summed up a frustrating night.

Kai Havertz – 6.5
A mixed performance from Havertz, who scored but saw Arsenal’s potential winner disallowed after the ball struck his hand.

Gabriel Martinelli – 7.0
Martinelli worked hard and netted a fine goal. He will be disappointed that Arsenal couldn’t hold on for the win.

Substitutes

Raheem Sterling – 4.5
Sterling offered little after coming on and didn’t look like the impact substitute Arsenal needed.

Tags Arsenal player ratings v Aston Villa

18 Comments

  1. I thought partey was excellent up until our second goal. Got exposed for the equaliser in particular – that’s where we needed a proper defender at RB, he didn’t mark. Prior to that I thought he made some brilliant passes and tackles and looked comfortable.
    Wouldn’t say timber was not in his “natural position” as he played CB a lot before joining us – don’t think he has a natural position tbh, I think he’s a natural footballer who can do well anywhere in defence and probably midfield to a high level. I thought he and Gabriel were great before the second goal, but tbf, villa often looked like they could score on the break in spite of how good those two were. Not sure, but I think timber maybe got dragged out of position for villa’s first goal and perhaps could have stopped it before it dropped to tielemans – but maybe it was the correct move to stick close to Watkins? Rice got a bit caught out as well, but it’s notoriously tough to track runners from deep.

    1. “Rice got a bit caught out as well, but it’s notoriously tough to track runners from deep” – oh, it was merino marking, not rice. Rice probably would have kept up, but merino isn’t as quick

  2. Rice was the best player on the pitch, closely followed by Trossard and MLS. The rest worked hard but lacked quality.

  3. I thought it was a honest effort from the first eleven, but not good enough to win. I think Sterling has brought a new meaning to peripheral, wingers are peripheral my nature of their position, but Sterling is merely a cardboard cutout of the player he was. No other choices on the bench to turn the screw.

  4. To be fair, Leandro Trossard terrorized Villa’s defence all day long, at his leisure, but we didn’t have enough firepower up front to take full advantage.

  5. Actually two players did stand out, the two Arteta clones Raya and Merino.
    Who are no where near justifying they’re price tag.
    That’s $70 million down the drain…

    1. So true Merino does not justify his price tag. Arsenal could have bought better from the English league. Many times Marino is not in the game like Rice and Partey. Raya has his moments good and bad.

  6. Come on. Trossard was excellent today. 8.5. But I’m really tired of seeing Partey at RB. He is generally decent there, sure. But he is without a doubt our best 6 and we move the ball so much quicker when he plays there. I like Arteta and back him, but playing Partey at RB is such a baffling and poor decision bc of what we lose in midfield. I understand if we have no choice bc of injuries, but Kiwior is on the bench. Why are we rejecting advances from Italy to buy Kiwior if we’re not going to use him with 75% of our defense out?

    Frustrating day but happy for Trossard. We need his best form in the coming weeks.

    1. Partey is best and proactive in the middle. Are there no under 21 that could have been introduced to the first team and now could be part of the first. All the Premier league bosses have brought in the youngsters and some have stepped up.

  7. I never understand how Kai Havertz will be absent 85 min of the game, miss multiple chances and score 1 and still be graded high. The fact that he’s indroppable in Arteta’s team will forever remain a mystery.
    Partey made one mistake. A costly mistake that just says he’s not a RB.

    1. Apparently he’s very good at the dirty work , not seen it myself ,looks like he just gets in the way but ……

  8. I guess the manager is not rated because he scored a zero and the players are on their own!!

    Just beginning to wonder why Edu left us so suddenly and so prematurely. Could it be that we have a management issue at Arsenal for which we often unfairly
    shift blame to players for it from time to time? Could the state of our performances be reason Edu left and was actually fired?

    Our performances aren’t assured and always raise anxiety no matter how well we appear to be playing sometimes and that this is on consecutive games hurts. We’re consistent in something negative.

    If we were seriously chasing Liverpool, Emery and Martinez had to be shown who is boss at the Emirates. We had an opportunity to do it and we can’t be the League’s top dogs when some guy next door makes our home his hunting ground!!

    Not a good sign at all

  9. I know Merino lost Tielemens for Villa’s first goal, so probably loses two points for that, but I think he’s established good contact with Lewis-Skelly & Trossard, something we’ve been asking for since Xhaka left.
    I’d give him 6.

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