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Confirmed Arsenal team – Lokonga starts as we go for 5th win in a row against Aston Villa

After winning their first four games this season, Arsenal are going into uncharted territory with the great chance they have to make it 5 in a row this evening at the Emirates.

The Gunners have a little problem of having three midfielders out of action, especially so early in the season, so it will be interesting to see how Mikel Arteta lines up his team’s tactics.

But considering the confidence that the players have right now after 4 wins in a row, I would be very surprised if Arsenal didn’t win, whichever team Arteta chooses from his much bigger squad than last season.

I am hoping that we see Marquinhos given a chance so Saka gets a rest, but usually Arteta prefers to keep the same starting XI until changes are need.

Patrick did a preview earlier and this is the team that he predicted that Arteta would choose…

Predicted Arsenal XI:

Ramsdale
White Saliba Gabriel Tierney
Lokonga Odegaard Xhaka
Saka Jesus Martinelli

And this is Arteta’s confirmed selection…

It looks like Patrick was Spot On!!!

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129 Comments

  1. It should be an easy win tonight against a struggling Villa, who cant buy a win. We have far too much for them and another 3 points, to help endorse our promising start before our first real test of our credentials against utd. 5 wins were always possible when the fixtures came out. So far so good.

    1. Yes. We should win but this is epl. We shouldn’t be complacent at all and we all know that a tean struggling always put in a good fight against us. Southampton are struggling but hit Chelsea Real hard. Let’s take our chances today when they come. Score early and hit them hard.

      1. On paper should be a certain win but games are not won on paper. Amassing 5 wins in a row is actually relatively rare.

        We can do this. Stay sharp at the back, keep shooting and goals will come.

        Come on young gunners!

    3. @Reggie
      It would seem so. But like fighting a little dude, ya gotta be careful cuz he’s got something to prove. Villa are capable and Stevie G is trying to keep his job. Seeing what happened to Parker, might just have incentivised him…IJS

    4. Can’t say fairer than that Reggie, although some ‘better sides’ haven’t started well against teams they should have beaten. Let’s hope the mentality is strong tonight

  2. Zinchenko is injured so him starting in the midfield won’t happen and I guess Arteta don’t want to tinker with the line up a lot since White have been doing well at RB. Let’s hope Lokonga steps up and do well.

    Hoping we have Zinchenko and Partey back for the united game. At least one of them…

    Coyg’

    1. Dont take tonights game for granted Villa need the points and we arenot strong enough up front Have seen Arsenal come unstuck so many times in this type of game I predict a 2 2 draw or Villa to edge it by the odd goal I hooe im wrong but shall find out later on tonight

      1. Disagree we have averaged 2.87 goals per game so far ,villa have 3 goals in 4 games .
        Worry should be the soft centre and getting overrun with Xhaka lokonga and Odegaard who have little to no pace between them .
        Could miss partey ,but we should have plenty to get the 3 points .
        Looking forward to this one ,something I’ve been missing for the last couple of years .

        1. @Dan Kit
          We have to earn this one, just like the others. Not trying to sound negative, but this one don’t look like it’s goin to be easy…IJS

          1. They have 3 goals mate in the first 4 games
            Our defence as been amazing so far ,I cannot see anything but a nice 3 goal win TBH .
            Personally feel Gerard or Lampard will be the next manager to be looking for a new job ,villa looked very good last season and villa are no club to be messing around if their manager does not keep up the results .
            Easy mate 🫣

              1. Agree sue (for a change 😂)
                Sacking a manager who just got them promoted after 4 games was awful IMO ,atleast give him half a season as he deserved that .
                Imagine they will go through 2-3 managers this season and still go down

  4. It won’t be an easy win. We should sign Ruben Neves tomorrow. That should be a priority over the right wing role.

  5. I think it was mentioned earlier to push white up into the middle which I agree with as lokonga looked a lvl below last season ,maybe he’s bulked up abit over the summer so could come good and obviously Arteta as shown some faith picking uk ,but that middle of the pitch looks a tad on the weak side .
    Saying that should be another 3 points on the board as villa have looked a shambles at the start of this season ,good easy 60 mins ,rest up some players to what’s to come Sunday and probably our toughest test so far .
    COYG

  6. Villa have a point to prove tonight. I am afraid this game may be a draw though I would want us to win. Lonkonga is not DM, Thieny need to step up he wasn’t good against Fulharm. Arsenal had better be ready for Villa physicality. The attackers must be clinical against E.Martinez.
    I remain carefully optimistic.

  7. This pretty much confirms Maitland Niles is gone this season. Other wise i would have had him on the bench as a central midfield substitute in case something happens to Sambi or xhaka during the game.

  8. Hoping we have “won” the game by the 60th min and that MA gives some game time to the bench that’s in desperate need of match fitness. Long season ahead and midweek games going to start coming thick and fast now.

  9. All game is simply 3 points and in the premier league no point come easy, no easy opponent at all just ask Chelsea fans how they felt before the games against Leeds and Southampton.

    I hope we can make it 5 wins out of 5 today and they prepare for ManU with Partey back in the team.

    2-0 to the Arsenal!!!

  11. I have just read that we are after a 21 year old Brazilian lad (Quelle Surprise) called Danilo.

    He is a defensive midfielder.

    His stats say he averages 2.2 tackles per match.

    Ngolo Kante attempts 7 tackles per match and makes 5 of them.

    Rather late in the game to try for a transfer wouldn’t you say!!

    Hmmm.

    This is still a rumor!!!!

  12. If Arsenal can’t find Partey’s successor from other club, I think they will rely on Sambi-Lokonga and Xhaka for the CDM role

    Sambi-Lokonga’s first touch was still highly inconsistent in pre-season, so let’s see whether he’s improved it or not

  13. Despite my earlier posts hoping that Ben White is preferred in DM today, I’m please Lokonga gets a shot today. Important to also keep the squad morale up and give players opportunities. Imagine how Lokonga might have felt if he was not brought in being the only other midfielder that is fit and can play that position. I would’ve thought that Xhaka will look to stay back more to offer more support to Lokonga.

    Looking at the bench, it does seem like a strong squad with the only absentees being the four injured players – Partey, Zinchenko, Elneny and Nelson. Matthew Smith is the only academy player in the list of 9 substitutes, so when this current squad is fully fit we will have 3 players from the current squad who will not even make it to the matchday squad of 20.

    I think the key is to keep the current crop fit and healthy. Given we are playing the Europa League, every player is capable of getting a good amount of game time, so lots of competition and room for improvement. I would be very disappointed if we don’t see wholesome changes for the cup competitions so our strongest XI play the league games.

    Contrary to some of the posts here, this will be a very tough game – Villa need a win and they will come out all guns blazing. We need to remain composed and utilize the home advantage to get an early goal. 5 wins would be incredible and would be the momentum we need to take to Manchester next matchday.

    My prediction is 3-1, with Jesus and Saka on the scoresheet. Coutinho to come off the bench and pull a goal back for Villa.

    Come on you gooners!

  15. I can’t say Lakonga is the reason we couldn’t make top 4 last season so am no5 comfortable seeing him again on this line up . He is the least player i expected to start this game. All the same, all fingers ctossed, hope he proves me wrong

  17. Jacob Ramsay is a big danger and needs to be watched carefully.Villa have been weak at CB so far this season and this is where we can expose them.I think we will have enough to get the points.

    1. Bit unfair to give Lokonga a hard time, guy barely gets game time. So he’s obv not match fit and lacks experience.

  28. We need to fix our finishing been missing too many chances this season. Else this will cost us later on.

  29. Only a matter of time
    Should have maybe rested saka (who’s looked out of sorts )and played Eddie who looked good with Jesus in preseason .

  33. The best thing about Saliba is that you barely notice he’s on the field and rarely hear his name mentioned.

    Quick, efficient and effective!

    1. Should’ve been at least 3 – 0. Lokonga played well and Xhaka was a very good crosser from the left wing

      We need to score one more goal, otherwise the players will get nervous

      1. Yes but minimum it should have been 2-0 up
        Even if Lokonga was good, we still another CM or DM
        Because we are gonna fave much more tough opponents than Villa

        1. Yeah, but maybe White can be a CDM if needed

          Xhaka shouldn’t return to the DM position, because he is much better in the opposition’s half

  40. Saka is our worst player player on the pitch, missed so many chances and always goes to ground with simple push . Sub him off and bring nketiah or smithrowe. I’m praying that these missed chamces not gonna hurt us

    1. Amen, the kid has been overhyped
      to the point that Arsenal fans view
      him as undroppable. Time for
      EK, ESR and Viera to get some
      minutes in his place.

  42. Only downside is that we aren’t more than 1 up. I thought we could’ve had a penalty for Mings manhandling Saka.

    Xhaka so much better when he’s pushed higher vs just sitting deep.

  43. Martinelli😲
    Easy first half ,villa 2 shots ,offering absolutely nothing .
    Keep it up second half .

    Haaland 😂 that kid is something else .

  44. Should have been 3-0, villa are a poor team at the moment. Lakonga doing well, we dont look light with him in there.

  45. Sambi is much better than last season, he does not let oponents press him since he moves the ball more quickly. last season he lost lots of balls under pressure in dangerous areas but it seems he improved that (knock on wood), making him a worthy subsitute to Partey.

    1. Yeah they have been good. Had to switch from BT to Bein sports which has the crowd noise much lower and come to the conclusion last game was just sky turning the crowd down (everyone who was there said it was a great atmosphere.) No idea how it’s only 1-0 here.

  50. We could do better…….. How are we just 1 nil up against this very poor team at the emirate. Partey is greatly missed, now I know even elneny is very important.

    We hav to do something about always missing chance, why do we miss thousand chances per game b4 scoring 1 goal?

  60. Great we are in the lead but a clear sign we needed to bring on fresh legs earlier! Midfield and forwards were clearly starting to slow.

  61. really showing that great mentality at the moment, now if only we can have decent finishing so we can be calmly in front.

  65. Newcastle will be a huge challenge, took the fight to city and now leading at anfield without guimares and saint maximin

  71. Villa are really poor and I can’t see them beating ManC at the weekend. Probably another hat trick for Haaland. SG looking decidedly vulnerable

    We on the other hand, have shown so much more in the way of guts and determination – Jesus is a dynamo, Martinelli took his goal brilliantly and I love the vision of Odegaard. Hope he isn’t injured and was taken off as a precaution. It’s a big weekend against ManU ahead
    The crowd were equally brilliant
    Whoo hoo!

  72. Good win. The refs work very hard to deny Arsenal. Still came through in the end. Well done. Hopefully odegaard is okay for the weekend

  73. Lokonga had a very good game. Calm on ball and great passes. Well I guess Arteta does know more us lol!. Great call to play lokonga as DM. Saka had another stinker today, missed chances and just looks out of sorts. I think he is burnt out , he needs some rest.

  75. Another wicked and hard fault victory!

    Well done lads. Lokonga gives me nightmares though. Eddie was epic when he came on!

      1. I don’t see it that way. He is careless with the ball and always prone to passing to opposition rather than team mate. Xhaka had a good game yes. A lot of the team did.

  76. Balogun should never have been allowed to go on loan another goal assist eddie is a lively??

  77. Job done. Created plenty and their goal was a bit of a freak. Old Trafford next! West Ham drawing with Spurs and Liverpool drawing with Newcastle. Good results for us if it stays the same.

    As it stand we’ll be 2 clear of City, 4 clear of Spurs, 8 clear of Chelsea/Newcastle, 6-9 clear of United and 9 clear of Liverpool. Not bad, not bad at all.

  79. Well done guys for the 3 pts but the match should have ended 5-1 but still 5 straight wins with just 4 goals conceded ….. Great game and performance….. Coach of the month is loading for Mr Arteta…. Give us 1 or 2 more transfer before the window closes then we can challenge and move on from there…. COYG…

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