Teams outside the top-six that come to the Emirates generally have one game plan in mind, to frustrate and spoil and to try and grab a point and I expect no different from Aston Villa today.
It is very unlikely that they will come to attack, you can expect them to get almost their entire outfield behind the ball and to defend deep, however, that does not mean their thinking will be one dimensional.
Villa will look to counter-attack at every opportunity, they will look to pressure the defence whenever Bernd Leno gets ready to do the short pass, they will look to take advantage of set pieces and they will definitely try to harass certain players into making errors.
Dean Smith’s men will be well-drilled, they will be told to go in hard on tackles, to spoil, time waste and disrupt, all with the intention of frustrating Arsenal and throwing them off their game.
An early goal will change the dynamics of the match and Villa will also know that so expect them to come out determined and focussed on their tackling, you can expect a few messages to be sent early by Villa, especially on the young lads in the team, namely Gunedouzi and Nelson, if they play.
It will be fairly predictable from the visitors but it works, it nearly worked for them against Tottenham and they are more clued up after a month back in the Premier League.
Arsenal will need patience and not to be baited by the antics that Villa will employ.