Arsenal News Arsenal opinion

Official Arsenal team to face Aston Villa – Nketiah back and Lacazette starts also

Arsenal faces off against Aston Villa this evening at Villa Park and will be looking to continue the momentum they have built up following wins over Liverpool and Manchester City.

Villa is desperate for the points, if they do not pick up three points this evening the chances of them being relegated will be huge.

Arsenal will have to be on their toes, this will be a very different match to the two they have just played against City and Liverpool.

This is the Arsenal team Arteta has gone with.

Has Mikel Arteta picked the right team to rack up another victory and keep the pressure on the teams above them in the Premier League? Let us know in the comments below.

Links to streams will be put in the comments where to watch the game live and free so keep checking in.

Also, if you go to the official Arsenal website here you will be able to get live commentary text and radio.

JustArsenal predicted line up (for comparison) here

JustArsenal match preview here

More Stories / Latest News
Another painful night for Arsenal fans but it may turn out to be to our advantage
Tactics? Inexperience? No Plan B? What went wrong for Arsenal in Munich?
This is the time for Arsenal fans to stick together and get behind the team
Posted by

Tags Arsenal Team Aston Villa v Arsenal

179 Comments

    1. Good to see him back,we usually disappoint in this kind of game after looking forward to it . A win is all I want come on gunners

  3. Which formation has Arteta chosen with this selection?
    Is it 3-4-3 or 4-4-1-1?

    Hope we come out victorious

  4. I hope they’re fit enough for this match. Lacazette and Aubameyang worked very hard against Man City

  5. Aubameyang, Nketiah, Lacazette

    Saka, Ceballos, Torreria, Cedric

    Kolasinac, Luiz, Holding

    Emi.

    OR

    Nketiah, Lacazette

    Aubameyang, Ceballos, Torreria, Saka

    Kolasinac, Luiz, Holding, Cedric

    Emi

    ?

  6. 3-4-3 Nketiah on the Right wing…
    He plays as a Right winger sometimes.
    Hope Kolasinac doesn’t have his brainfart today..
    Can’t believe a day would come I’d be missing and wishing Mustafi is fit and on the lineup.
    KT and Xhaka needs the rest obviously.
    I feel the reason Auba keeps playing is cause he’s chasing the golden boot.
    It will be tough, but let’s get behind the boys

      1. Is it one? Since football resumed is it once? You think it’s just the Tottenham game alone?
        You really can’t be serious are you?
        Well I’m not here to argue.
        Good luck to the boys

        1. Not an argument as such. Players misplace passes . What I call a brainfart is misplacing a simple one like Kola against spurs. I think statistically , It’s called an unforced turnover. He’s not had many unforced turnovers. He just had one at the highest level, and I guess the payment was due.

  7. Dani Ceballos’ stats since EPL restart, all of them are the best at Arsenal:

    – Touches: 504 (1st)
    – Key passes: 10 (1st)
    – Dribbles completed: 9 (1st)
    – Tackles: 15 (1st)
    – Interceptions: 17 (1st)
    – Ball recoveries: 52 (1st)
    – Distance covered (km): 78 (1st)

    Arsenal has to make him permanent

      1. I don’t like to boast but while most fans weren’t convinced by Ceballos just after the restart Sue and I,had realised something had clicked on with him and even said that he would keep on improving ,just saying!and from what I read RM want 23 or 27M for him,I say buy him,today that’s small change even for me us!

  8. I thought he would play AMN to negate Grealish and I assume Nelson is injured.Could well be a draw.

  9. It’ll be nice to see Auba as center forward. 3 strikers!!! We need to win this match with at least 3 goals difference which we will. If Wolve should loss their last game and we win our last two matches, we’ll be heading to the Europa league football next season. We can do it boys. COYG

  10. Should be a walk over at villa Park,Niles benced again Arteta seems to be holding grudges with any player who does not sing his praises.Ozil trained but selected against a relagation candidate,not his fan but treating a professional player like rabid dog is not acceptable.Every player in Arsenal books should not be mistreated in the pretext of ‘not training well’.

    1. I’d be more inclined to trust what the coach is saying. The players whom he gave a clean slate have vindicated his decision. I have no reason to suspect him of favoritism. If he’s saying someone ain’t doing well , then that person probably ain’t doing well.

    2. Moan moan moan and moan… There has to be someone moaning every match day after lineup gets released.
      You realize it was Niles who played on Saturday right? And the coach is rotating the players.
      This is getting tiring TBH

    2. What are you doing man!your previous comment was good and then you bring up Ozil, why oh why?

  12. KDB is one assist from equalling Henry’s record…up next for them – Norwich. Surely he’ll smash it

    3. Sue,I reckon you must be disappointed that Carzola will be playing in in Qatar I wished we had offered him a similar contract to Shrek at Derby,player/coach what do you think?well managed physically he could have done a decent job for us on the pitch!

      1. Goodluck to him… The only reason he had a fantastic season after that survey is because he moves back to a less physical but more technical league.
        Coming back to the EPL will only cause damage to his body.
        EPL players leave no prisoners.
        It’s okay he moved to the warmer climate over there, he’ll enjoy his football.
        Let’s stop all these sentimental attachments we place on our players

      2. Yes, Siamois, I was hoping he’d come home…. but you can’t blame him for wanting to carry on… he was injured for sooooo long. Hopefully he’ll come to us when he’s finished over there!

  13. Too much attack minded for an away tie.I wait to be proved wrong though.Douglas and Nakamba are too physical for Dani and Torreira.Saka n Auba as wingers is great going forward but big trouble without the ball as they are not that physical as well

  15. We haven’t caused any threat so far..
    Hopefully it will change after this drinks break…

    1. Under Arteta we have got results from losing positions so I hope this one’s a positive result.

    1. “Back Arteta, Kroenke Out”
      I think it shows the number of fans backing and standing behind Arteta

  23. The midfield has been so dull and the game so different without Xhaka.
    It’s so obvious, yet you’d see people saying he brings nothing to the team.
    The only person trying all those progressive passes is David Luiz, hopefully we bounce back

    1. Midfield has been dull !!!! It’s actually been far more dynamic than with xhaka coz torreira wants to move the ball forward and looks for ball unfortunately the attack is not providing movement or threat so far … don’t know how long it will take arteta to work out just how average nketiah is but hopefully sooner rather than later

      1. Moving around a lot is different from progressing play. Xhaka doesn’t move around as excitingly as Torreira , but he moves the ball a whole lot better. He even moves it vertically better than Ceballos. I think the major mistake Arteta made was taking Xhaka out of that role and not changing tactics, because we’ve been depending on Xhaka’s service to bring Saka alive down the left. Now , we are in a scenario where Saka is picking up posession in less deadly areas. The solution would be to bring Xhaka into the fold, that would definately change the dynamic of the game. Also, I hope this game shows how much of an attacking threat Bellerin is. Besides whipping in crosses, Cedric has nada to offer offensively . MY second change would be to bring on AMN or Bellerin who both have a tendency to cut inwards. Eddie is having to face the struggle of drawing a fullback and a midfiedler and still receive the ball under pressure . The whole point of being a RWB is to exploit the space your inside forward creates. Luiz is clearly irritated by Cedric’s concervative movement.
        First two changes for me would be Xhaka and Niles for Torreira and Cedric.

        1. jesus i have never seen an arsenal player move the ball back as endlessly as this fake footballer … but the problem here is the entire right side … kolasinac saka aube is a zero threat … cedric has been ok so far a better crosser of ball than bellerin but no one in the box

      2. Torreira isn’t progressive mate.. You can move around all you want, it aimt progressive if the ball ain’t moving forward.
        We miss Xhaka’s progressive play here, Ceballos can’t do it alone.
        Just admit we’re missing Xhaka.
        Kolasinac keeps pissing me off in this game by the way

        1. @Eddie, Kola hasn’t really done anything wrong. He’s actually been quite willing to bring the ball forward at feet (which I’d trust him to do knowing his passing is whack.) . Xhaka is being sorely missed though, but if there’s away to improve our play without bringing him on , I’d rather the gaffer tried that. I’d rather keep him fresh for wembley . We’ll need those passes. They one solution that comes to mind would be to throw on AMN for Cedric , move laca into the hole and switch to a 3 4 1 2 whith Auba and Nketiah directly leading the line . Other solution would be to bring on Xhaka , and someone more offensive than Cedric.

          1. Also Nketiah needs to come off for Pepe… Saka has been poor also.
            Is it fatigue taking its toll on the team?

        2. difficult to beleive anyone sees xhaka as a progressive force but there you go … but the whole team selection is unbalanced

    3. Some people expect Xhaka to defend, attack at the same time, forgetting he has his role. Xhaka is our best midfielder, but some people think Guendozi is better

      1. Which is a reason we will be finishing mid table this season … if we don’t get a quality midfielder we will again be eyeing 6th and claiming it’s a trophy … xhaka has literally added nothing in the 5 minutes he’s been on

    1. Don’t you think it’s a small club mentality!!!
      Small teams play great against bigger teams but they remain average against teams with similar quality…

          1. Yes… Hopefully they wake up in the second half.
            Personally I don’t like the Torreira-Ceballos pairing so far.
            Ceballos is having to move all over the pitch just to receive and make passes.
            Xhaka’s presence makes it easier to do and share

  25. Our team need one goal down to encourage themselves. I still hope we will win this match by at least 3.

  26. Arteta s selection of players is poor here if he wants to rest players that’s great but then rest key players and maintain your shape and tactics. Eddie doesn’t make sense with Lava and Auba up front. No creative players at all ……Torreira and Dani pretty static and poor

    1. Give it a rest mate, Nelson is injured, who could he have used on the right wing?
      Also these players are tired, Xhaka obviously needs the rest.
      There’s enough time to still make something out of the game.
      There was nothing wrong with the selection, he selected an attacking trio.
      Torreira just doesn’t bring what Xhaka brings to the midfield

  27. Poor selection especially up front … more movement in middle but no threat ..: right side is utterly hopeless combo

  28. Let’s be honest. The guys that claim Cedric is better than Bellerin, which part of the game does he do better?

    Luiz and Ceballos are literally having to remind him to move

  30. We are exactly playing like Man City, the way they played against us in FA Cup..
    So much possession but no penetration…

    1. Touche, but we have no one who could offer penetration either on the bench. Pepe is rarely able to do that

    2. I agree Kedar

      A very limp affair indeed. It was an unnecessary corner, which Luiz was forced to give away and I had a feeling that a goal would result. Which it did.

      Possession but no umph!

      1. The umph we are missing is from
        1. Cedric being static on the right
        2. Neither of our midfielders seems to be able to ping balls to the wide players early .

        We do have those solutions on the bench , and they would definetly change the game.

    1. He’s been one of the few actually running forward with the ball. Do you just close your eyes when he starts running?

      2. Mate he’s been making wrong passes and just running headlessly all over the pitch.
        Can’t you see he’s also making Saka struggle?

  34. Dire first half performance. Six changes is a big ask, hope arteta makes some personnel switches, its badly needed. COYG

    1. I can only assume Arteta is rotating to save them for the FA cup final as the route to Europe?

      This team should be good enough but don’t seem interested enough.. 🙁

      1. Losing this game will mean we probably have only the FA cup as route to Europa… So losing this game ain’t meaningless 👊👊
        I’m honestly not interested in going to the Europa league.
        I’ll keep singing it😂

  37. If you gonna pair Dani and Lucas I d have kept Eddie on the bench and had Willock link midfield to attack …..

  38. We are struggling against Villa’s set pieces…
    I hope we will cope well against Chelsea’s direct football and Set pieces… Giroud, Rudiger, Zouma..
    Fernando Alonso

  39. David Luiz out only means we’ve switched to a back four.
    I thought Nketiah would be the one out, but I guess it’s cause we’re looking for a goal

      1. We’re talking about Aston Villa here! A tired Championship side could muster more than this!!

        Way too much sideways and backwards passing as usual! 🙁

    1. Mate they get paid millions of money per year…
      They have to keep themselves up for everything..

      1. Lol, Do they? You say that as though they’re robots and they’re used to playing at this intensity for long.
        I’m not making excuses for them though, it’s been a poor game.
        Personally I’m okay with losing it… I DONT F**KING WANT TO SEE US PLAY EUROPA!!.

        Mate I’ll have no choice anyways😥😥because I’ll be supporting Arsenal to win the FA Cup

          1. Look, Van Persie explained it better than I ever could.
            I know people will say we need the money, but really our target is actually going back to the UCL not Europa.
            Not going to the Europa means leas games for us and the players get more training time with Arteta. Then we make a push for top four.
            I really really hate playing the Europa TBH

          2. See we won’t get UCL even if we miss out on EL with these kind of players and performances like this..

          3. We’ll sign players obviously.. I don’t believe this crap that if we don’t get to the Europa we won’t get the money to sign.
            If we don’t go, then it should prove more to the board that we need players

  44. Where’s Nelson when you need him?
    Nketiah has been so poor also and keeps losing the ball

      1. We need a goal it’s why Nketiah stays on.
        This defense without Mustafi and Luiz suddenly seems worse😂😂😂
        Villa could’ve added two goals

  45. I’m sure there is a secret bet between Holding and Kolasinac who can make the most sideways passes!..

    ..Its a draw at the minute with both on 1500 passes each. None of them forward!

  48. Arteta should smuggle grealish in his suitcase, would be very interesting in our midfield.

  50. Unless a miracle happens it’s a curse playing a team that are fighting relegation with everything they’ve got.

    1. It’s actually why it’s tough.
      They obviously wanted it more.
      Kudos to them for winning this, we played poorly today.
      Fatigue?? Because it’s the only reason Arteta made a lot of changes to the team

      1. Genius, so we are entitled to winning every game is what you’re trying to say?
        You have to moan every single time the team loses?
        We played poorly, fine we lost.. Stop moaning, a day ago y’all were singing praises, can’t you just be behind the team without complaining?
        The season is over already

    2. If anyone can find any positives from this game or think we can compete with the elite teams then you are absolutely delusional. This is without doubt the worst arsenal team in 25 years.
      No leaders in the team, all the players do is pass the ball sideways or backwards.
      Kolasinac is one of the worst players to pull on a gunners shirt, so so sad to have watched that shit tonight when it looked as though most of the team could not be bothered yet all quite happy to pick up there wages. If most of us did that in our job we would be sacked
      Rant over but I’ve had enough

  52. Okay, so if, and I stress “IF” Arsenal play like this in the final against Chelsea, or get rolled over like they did last year in the final, are we going to accept it?

    This crap is NOT good enough and is typical of Arsenal away this season!

      1. They have played like this without any of them in the team before anyway. What is your point exactly, Joe?

  55. Poor team selection poor performance but a useful reminder that without serious additions this summer we will remain a mid table outfit … holding was good … don’t think but that’s about All I can take … but again we don’t need laca and aube latter should be in middle or not on … he’s hopeless in the wing … nketiah can leave Bielsa worked him out after 2 games arteta should talk to him

  56. Embarrassing performance! Not one shot on target for a team that has let in 66 goals.. one step forward, 5 steps back that’s Arsenal all over! Seriously p*ssed off with that.

    1. No St Totteringham’s day… No golden boot…. Last chance saloon for EL now…
      Typical bloody Arsenal….

      1. I know Sue that was one of the worst performances I’ve seen its amazing how half of that squad are on champions League wages, absolute pitiful! I didn’t even know Lacazette and Aubameyang were on the pitch.. and what the hell was those crosses into the box ? The same crappy balls every time 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

        1. Everyone had an off night, even Auba!! 😱
          Doesn’t fill me with confidence for Sunday, Kev… Deeney and his cojones will be at us from the off…🙈

          1. Oh I don’t even care about the last game now Sue the sooner this PL season is over the better it’s been another nightmare campaign! If Watford win great it could send Villa down 😂 10th place finish here we come 😉

          3. No I think we finished lower in 95 Sue 12th or 13th we’ll break that record next season 😉😜 oh god so annoyed tonight Sue it’s just ruined my night 🤦‍♂️

          4. Still crap though! I’m actually not angry 😱 I guess deep down I expected it, Kev!
            You’re gonna have to find a decent film to take your mind off it 😁

          5. Well I foolishly believed we turned a corner but got my hopes smacked back down tonight again Sue 🥴 I should have been like you and expected another rubbish performance was just around the corner, now what will happen is Man utd will get champions League Liverpool will collect the trophy tomorrow and we’re down to pinning our hopes on a cup final for a European place again 🥴 haha yeah not nightmare on elm Street though I already watched that at villa park tonight😂

          6. That is typical of us, Kev – Liv>City >Villa!!! We’ve seen this so often before… we’re rubbish on the road… nothing surprises me with AFC anymore! Plus, I think I used all my anger up after the NLD (unforgivable)
            I ain’t watching that crap tomorrow!!
            Haha but who was Freddy?! 😝

          7. Haha yeah Sue we certainly haven’t cured the away day curse have we 😆 please don’t let us down in the fa cup final 🥴 that Europa League final still bothers me Sue 😣 I can’t believe I’m still watching football, i must love misery 😂😂 I really think we need Coutinho Sue we have zero creativity, yeah our defence is poor but I think in the meantime we should try to outscore opponents, we should definitely try get Partey, or Danilo Pereira, a new right back, and another striker, someone like Luka Jovic, we already have Pablo Mari, and William Saliba is coming in so we should be ok there. Haha the villa backline? 😂😂

  57. Oh well, you can’t win them all. The schedule has been unforgiving, so this kind of performance can be taken into account due to fatigue. Also, this shows our lack of squad depth and play-style currently revolving around certain players that without them in the team, we don’t play well. Xhaka, Auba, Ceballos come to mind. Today was a bad day, sure, and I hope this has given Arteta some new insights into the unforgiving beast the EPL is. Onwards to the next game. COYG!

    1. And Villa clearly wanted it more 😂
      Nice one, Sid 👍
      I wonder what the message will be on the flyover banner on Sunday? Any ideas? 😄

      1. Villa did an Arsenal on us, Sue! Had deja Vu watching the game, hope we don’t make it a pattern.
        Our play-style depends a lot on certain players, and it just shows how much football knowledge Mikel has to be able to construct a team out of what he had when he came on board. Still you can’t make a Ferrari from a run-down Ford, and that’s what we seem to be at the moment.
        I didn’t see the banner 😞, and I don’t think it will be a pleasant one on Sunday if one’s gonna be on display. I hope Fans stay behind Arteta.
        Let’s hope we win the cup, sue. COYG!

        1. It said ‘Back Arteta – Kroenke out’ …. probably more of the same, if there will be one on Sunday..
          I like your positivity, Sid… it’s very refreshing 🙂 Tonight has made Sunday even more interesting now – love it!!
          Yes fingers crossed we will!! 🏆

          1. I see positives with Arteta at the helm Sue. And the way the season has been going, I don’t think I will be sad at future results, maybe the final loss,🤔🤔?
            I guess being an Arsenal fan, particularly from the 2010’s, has made me see more positives than negatives. I hope we continue on the upward trend, and fans don’t lose faith in Mikel, because he really is trying to build something special with our club.

          2. Yes, I do too, Sid. It can only get better!
            Give it a couple of seasons and we’ll be laughing about this result! 😉
            We can’t lose that final, Sid, we just can’t!! 🙈

    2. Thank you!!!
      Move on!!! Next!!
      We have a final to play.
      We were poor and Villa wanted it more, no point in moaning

  58. …yeah i learned absolutely nothing new about this Arsenal side. Already knew all of this. Did not expect 6 points in these last two matches either so not much to say since they met expectations.

  59. Just rest the squad before the FA Cup final.

    Win and we are in the $ and Europa for some new players!

    1. Almost the same as last year except it’s Europe in general on the line. Which Arsenal will show up, that is always the question…

  60. The best we can hope for is to win the FA Cup

    Sunday isn’t going to change anything and the players need to recover after what has been 2 immense results and a game against a team fighting for PL survival in which fatigue must have played a part

  61. Tired legs with no cutting edge,
    Well, not taking anything away from the team, the Villa defence was very organized and resilient.

  62. It started with the low corner, flicked on by Mings and one timed into the corner.

    No stopping that.

    Only thing stopping the draw was the post, dang that would have helped Eddie’s confidence.

    He is just saving it for the FA Cup final.

  63. Guess we had nothing in the tank after Liverpool and city. We had pretty much nothing to lose and they had every reason to win. Don’t really care much since league was done for us after Leicester game. Rest and win that Fa cup, would be a real boost for the team.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors