Another game in February and another loss…and still the bitter taste of the Wolves’ defeat after this villain defeat.

If you look at the stats, we dominated the game but when you look at the game, we could have lost 4-0 with the errors we made in our own are and the fact that we hardly hit the target. Martinez reminded us of how good he was, especially on that Pepe’s strike. I do not agree with Arteta’s assessment that we deserved the win. I think we played positive and energetic football but defensive lapses and lack of final product in the last third were just glaring today.

Ryan had a rough start with a goal conceded in the first 2 mins but then kept us in the game

Bellerin and Cedric were not great today – neither at the back, neither going forward

Holding-Gabriel – Holding was solid as per his recent outing but Gabriel is still struggling to find his original form

Xhaka-Partey – Xhaka was tidy and Partey had some really good spells and also some lapses. Sad to see Partey off injured, again..

Saka-Pepe – Both played with energy and tried to create and shoot and dribble…Saka the main threat but I am liking Pepe’s attitude these days on the pitch.

ESR – Energetic but lacking the spark/creativity.

Laca – An OK display. Missed a golden opportunity to delivery an assist to Saka in the first hald.

Auba – Nice to him again on the pitch but still not scoring goals. Worrying still.

Odegaard – A good entrance.

Willian – Needs to justify his salary…how can he struggle so much with us?

Ref – no comment. Arteta really upset with the Konsa foul.

Let us try to finish in the Top 10 at least…

There was a gut-punchingly high degree of ridiculousness about our defeat at Wolves on Tuesday night.

Another red card for David Luiz, albeit for the tiniest accidental contact with a Wolves player; the subsequent ‘double jeopardy’ of both a penalty and a red card; Bernd Leno’s brain fart; Moutinho scoring a once-a-season screamer… well, you know the story.

Today I expect us to get back to winning ways at Aston Villa.

And yes, I know they gave us a sound thrashing when they visited the Emirates earlier in the season, but we were a different team then and so were they.

Since that defeat we have found a new formation, new personnel and we have disinfected the training ground to remove the stale smell of mouldering, unwanted players.

The Villans, meanwhile, have struggled for wins since Christmas. They’ve won just two out of seven and have lost to West Ham, Burnley and the two Manc clubs.

There’s no doubt they are a good team and have some excellent players. At the start of the season I had them down as one of my ‘dark horse’ tips for a potential top four finish. Now they’re one point above us, although they have two games in hand following Covid-related disruption to their fixtures.

Ollie Watkins remains their top scorer (nine goals in the league), but they also pose a scoring threat from midfield with Grealish, Barkley and El Ghazi, who have 14 between them.

But enough about the opposition. What about the Mighty Arse? For almost all the first half at Wolves we played the best football we’ve seen all season. Our forward movement was outstanding, we were solid at the back and the Partey-Xhaka axis in midfield was in complete control. We should perhaps have been two or three up by the time the penalty and red card derailed us. Even with 10 men I think we might have won, but Leno’s mad moment put paid to any hope of that.

The question is, can the players put the freakishness of what happened next out of their minds, write it off as ‘one of those things’ and bounce back to winning ways? I don’t see why not. If I was in their boots I’d feel as if I had been cheated out of three points and would want to make amends as soon as possible.

As part of the fall-out of the Molineux clown show, Leno and Luiz are both unavailable today (serving one-game bans). I know many fans will be unperturbed by the absence of Luiz given his propensity for triggering cataclysmic events (even if he sometimes seems unlucky) but his defensive work has been generally good this season. However, we have good strength-in-depth at CB with Mari and Gabriel.

Missing Leno could be a bigger headache, with our new goalkeeping loanee Mat Ryan having also been out crocked. It could mean another start for Runnarson, who has had a variable beginning to his Arsenal career. He has made some terrible clangers but also seems to be a good shot stopper. It hardly fills this observer with confidence but if he’s going to be the man between the sticks he deserves our full support and best wishes. And the fact that I might previously have suggested we call him Runnarsaurus and make him our new mascot is neither here nor there.

Ryan has been back in training so it’s possible the Aussie will make his Arsenal debut instead if deemed fit enough. Let’s hope our FA Cup hero, Martinez, does not have a blinder for the Villa.

Elsewhere Mari is available again and Kieran Tierney is the only player still in the sick bay. I am glad the club is not rushing back our talismanic fullback – he’s so precious that he probably gets stalked by Gollum.

There are selection headaches for Mikel Arteta up front, with Saka, Aubameyang, Pepe, Martinelli and Lacazette all available, not to mention Nketiah. Pepe was continuing his good recent form in the Wolves game until the red card and scored a terrific goal. He seems to enjoy playing on the left better than the right.

Cedric, meanwhile, has quelled many supporters’ doubts about him and proven to be a solid back-up at either right or left fullback.

Here’s the starting eleven I’m expecting:

Ryan/Runnarson

Bellerin – Holding – Gabriel – Cedric

Xhaka – Partey

Saka – Smith Rowe – Pepe

Lacazette

Essentially I think (and hope) that El Patron will stick with what’s been working, keeping Pepe and Saka in the wide roles and letting Smith Rowe pull the strings. Partey and Xhaka should be capable of resisting Villa’s dangerous midfield.

We have a full week before our next game so there’s no need to worry about over-playing some of the squad.

This game won’t be easy – Villa are too talented to be a pushover. But if we can get our groove going I fancy that our forward line has more than enough talent and confidence to breach their defence at least twice.

Come on You Gunners.

RockyLives

Here is the picture so far:

1. We have lost our FA Cup, losing to Southampton in the 4th Round
2. We are out of the Carabao Cup, losing to Man City in the quarter-finals
3. We have played 22 games in the EPL, collected 31 points and sit 9 points behind 4th placed Liverpool (they have played one less game than us) and 5 points behind Everton (they have played 2 games less than us) and we are 17 points ahead of the best placed bottom 3 team.
4. We are still qualified in the Europa League, where we had a flawless group stage and are now facing Benfica in the Round of 32.

So two trophies are out of reach already, a top 4 finish is clearly going to be tough and a top 6 finish may even be difficult. The Europa League then becomes DE FACTO our best chance for trophy/success.

So what shall be our expectations for this season?

A. Finish in Top 8 and win the Europa League

B. Finish in Top 17 and win the Europa League

C. Aim to find our best XI this season, soak in the Arteta’s game plan and do our best in the EPL and EL.

D. Other?

What a weird game it was! A very frustrating loss to be honest.

Our first 45 minutes were nothing short of brilliant. We defended quite decently especially in the middle of the park and our attacking game was at times amazing! Saka was absolutely brilliant, Laca’s hold up and link up plays were great, Pepe had a positive attitude and scored a good goal and Partey was pulling the strings in midfield while Cedric was also having a good game going forward. ESR also had a few good moments. We were so unlucky to only have scored one goal but all was going well…until Luiz got a red card, which is hard to understand because it seems there was actually no contact. So we lose Luiz and we concede a PK, which was well taken to be honest.

4 minutes into the second half and Moutinho scores a screamer. Could Partey or Leno do better? Hard to say. And then we hang in the game and we have a few openings to maybe draw…but it was not meant to be for us as Leno also gets red-carded. This red-card is actually harder to contest – what was Leno thinking? Stay in your box and collect the ball, mate…After that, it was a matter of just the game ending.

Overall, I felt that our first 45 minutes were the best of the season. It was nice to see us play so well. But then, our dark side resurfaced with losing a ball in the middle of the park leading to a very harsh sending off and then Leno just lost his mind in the second half…So the second half was clearly to be forgotten.

The positives: Saka, Partey, Holding, Laca, Pepe, Xhaka, Cedric + the first 45 minutes! And seeing Auba play.

The negatives: Ref, Leno, Luiz (?)

Could do better: ESR, Bellerin

The transfer window ended last night with a lot of players moving away from AFC, most notably older players that played in the Bundesliga who saw their contract terminated (Ozil, Mustafi and Sok) as well as some of our younger players eager to get some playing time in the EPL (Willok, AMN) or a solid league abroad (Saliba). Overall, some people think that the window was successful as we also landed Ryan and Odegaard but we did not manage to get a left-footed left back but then again, we have Cedric to deputize for Tierney…

So our squad has now been trimmed down and for tomorrow, some players remain missing like Tierney and potentially Aubameyang. Saka is a doubt but he may play and Laca seem to be ok. Saiss, Nouri and Jimenez are notably missing for Wolves.

Wolves are not an easy team to manoeuvre but I expect Arteta to set the team up in the 4231 formation of late but I think he will give a start to Pepe, Willian as well as Nketiah. Mostly to manage Saka’s injury, Partey and Martinelli’s physical sharpness, Laca and Auba to be on the safe side.

Leno – Bellerin, Holding, Luiz, Cedric – El Neny, Xhaka – Pepe, ESR, Willian – Nketiah

Arteta would then have plenty of ammunitions on the bench in case the starting XI struggles to create or defend. This game will be tight and I expect teams to press but I don’t expect the teams to take any risks. This is a game to remain focused especially on set-pieces and a game where both teams will try to break counter-attacks with cynical fouls.

I would be happy if we snatched a 0-1 victory but I could also see the game end in low scoring draw.

Our key men for tomorrow are Leno, Luiz, Cedric, Xhaka, Pepe and Nketiah. If these guys are having a good game, we have a decent chance. If they lose their defensive focus and counter-attacking abilities, we can be in for a narrow but stinging defeat…

COYG! And best of luck to AMN and Willok with their new clubs!

Nil-nil draws can be boring or they can be exciting. Yesterday’s stalemate with Manchester United at the Emirates was in the latter category.

We had chances to win it, but we also had chances to lose it and a draw felt a fair result at the final whistle.

And let’s pause here for a moment to give credit to Mikel Arteta and his players. A few weeks ago we were talking relegation. Yesterday we went toe to toe with a team that’s been on a great run that took them to the top of the table, where they were sitting just a week ago.

That is progress.

Inspired by comments from AA readers after the game, here are some questions that have emerged from Arsenal’s performance. Please share your thoughts below.

Are We Expecting Too Much Too Soon From Partey?

There was a split in comments between those who felt Thomas had a bit of an off day and those who thought he was pretty good. To this observer he was a bit of both. He had a couple of his trademark forward charges, was positionally good and played a full 90. On the negative side he lost possession several times, mostly in the second half and very particularly towards the end when tiredness must have been a factor.

To me he shows plenty of evidence of Rolls Royce football, but he’s spent a long time in the repair shop and just needs a bit more running in. He will get more attuned to the way the EPL works as time goes on but he already is clearly our best midfielder.

Has the Long Awaited Pepe Surge Begun?

The mercurial Ivorian was good against Southampton in midweek and had another decent outing yesterday. If his shooting radar had been marginally better he might have had a couple of goals.

He also tracked back well and showed a lot more discipline that we saw from him in his early months at Arsenal, for which credit must go not just to the player, but also to Arteta and his coaching team.

But if Pepe has finally found his feet and is ready to contribute at a high level, our attacking options are starting to look really tasty.

Is the Xhaka Redemption Now a Permanent Feature?

The ups and downs of Granit Xhaka’s time at Arsenal read like a Jason Bourne novel… so have we now reached the Xhaka Supremacy? Even his harshest critics would have a hard time denying that he has been really quite good lately.

He seems to have found a groove alongside Partey, he is playing with intelligence and discipline and (tempting fate) he has stopped the stupid fouls and the infuriating toddler tumbles where he tries to win free kicks. Xhaka has always had good qualities, but they came with frustrating down sides. Remove the down sides and we are looking at a very reliable central midfielder.

Are Tierney and Saka Our Two Most Important Players?

As I wrote in comments, starting yesterday’s game without Tesco and Saka would be the equivalent of Man Utd going into the match without Fernandes and Rashford (which makes our performance and the result even more impressive).

Cedric has filled in well during KT’s absences but we really missed the Scotsman marauding down the left flank and putting in those excellent crosses.

As for Saka… there were times yesterday when Smith Rowe played what to me looked like ‘passes for Saka’. But because Bukayo was not on the pitch and Pepe, for all his improved form, does not have quite the same psychic bond with ESR that Saka does, the balls did not come off because Pepe did not make the right run. Partey may well become the automatic first name on the team sheet in time, but can we all agree that right now it’s Tierney and Saka who jointly hold that position?

How Should We Handle Martinelli?

The young Brazilian had an in-and-out first half and did not reappear for the second period, which I can only assume was because of a tweak. Given his injury history the precautionary principle is probably the right one to adopt with him.

He is struggling a little bit to find his feet since returning to fitness, but he showed typically good movement in this game and worked as hard as ever. One spectacular backtrack to deny Rashford an open goal was particularly noteworthy.

Right now I think the club are handling his return well: use him sparingly and let things take their natural course. A goal will help him tremendously.

Player Ratings From RC78

Leno – 6 – not much to do

Bellerin – 6.5 – had a couple of good moments.

Holding – 7 – Marshalling the defense, especially in the air

Luiz – 7 – Another good outing.

Cedric – 6 – A decent game but a lot of the chances conceded came from his side.

Xhaka – 7 – Tidy.

Partey – 6 – We expect more. Seems to struggle physically a bit.

Pepe – 7.5 – Created chances, full of running but last touch but not there.

ESR – 6.5 – Industrious but lacked the spark today

Martinelli – 6.5 – Looked good when played.

Laca – 7 – A fantastic attitude and unlucky not to score on his free kick.

SUBS

Willian – a good entrance but still slows the game down.

Odegaard – not enough time to assess.

Nketiah – not enough time to assess.

RockyLives

Our recent resurgence faces a tough challenge today as we entertain Manchester United, currently sitting second in the Premier League and on a terrific run of results until their slip-up against Sheffield United in midweek.

We can take solace from the fact that prior to the Blades we were the last team to beat them in the league, winning 1-0 at Old Trafford on November 1st.

Unfortunately after that game we went on a terrible run during which we couldn’t buy a sniff of a goal let alone a win, whereas the red Mancs bounced straight back and won 10 of their next 13 (the three they didn’t win were draws against Manchester City, Liverpool and Leicester, so that’s not too shabby).

On paper you would have to say they are strong favourites to win today. Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes have 31 goals between them in all competitions; Paul Pogba is in arguably his best form since arriving in Manchester and they have started improving at the back.

A draw would not be a bad result for Arsenal, but I think we have the players to win this one if the breaks go our way.

A lot will depend on which players are available. If we can start with Partey, Tierney, Smith Rowe and Aubameyang – all of whom are currently doubtful – we have the quality to compete with Man Utd all across the park.

At the time of writing (on Friday afternoon) Partey looks likely to be available (he pulled up with cramp towards the end of the Southampton game but otherwise did not seem injured); Aubameyang has been declared unavailable (he is quarantining after flying to Gabon and back to visit his sick mother, apparently); there is no news of Tierney and Smith Rowe. Dani Ceballos and Pablo Mari have been back in training but whether they’re available to start is anyone’s guess.

I can’t imagine our new loan singing Martin Odegaard will be involved (Arteta referred to him needing match fitness) but I suppose he could be on the bench.

One area of encouragement for us is in attack. In recent games – when our new first-choice stars have started – we have begun to show glimpses of excellence: beautiful attacking sequences built on speed, one-touch passing, great movement off the ball and complete understanding between the players involved.

Smith Rowe, Saka and Lacazette in particular have been at the heart of these moves. If we can avoid being dominated in midfield and get our front line playing at that level then I fancy us to score a couple. For all their recent improvements, United have still found it difficult to keep clean sheets, conceding two goals to Sheffield United (twice), Leicester, Leeds and Southampton during their winning run.

I am going to stay positive with my predicted line-up and assume that all our ‘doubtfuls’ except Auba will be fit for today. If Tierney is still out then Cedric slots in at left back, where he did an excellent job in midweek. In the absence of Aubameyang we could start Martinelli, but I would not rule out switching Saka to the left and playing Pepe on the right after his decent outing against the Saints.

Smith Rowe is the tricky one. If he’s not available then I fear Mikel Arteta will start Willian, in which case my optimism levels will plummet. I would rather try Ceballos in the Number 10 role if he’s fit enough.

Here’s the likely starting eleven:

Leno

Bellerin – Holding – Luiz – Tierney

Xhaka – Partey

Pepe – Smith Rowe – Saka

Lacazette

It’s nice to be looking forward to a big game instead of dreading it. This one will probably come down to fine margins – quality finishing; great goalkeeping; refereeing decisions – but if we come away with all three points our season will start to look very different.

Come on you Gunners.

RockyLives

Well here’s a funny thing.

Who remembers how the Arsenal world was feeling just before Christmas?

While Santa was loading his sleigh with goodies and little children everywhere were excitedly hanging up their stockings, Gooners were weeping into their mince pies.

An appalling run of results and form had seen us plummet faster than Harry Kane when he gets in the opponents’ penalty area.

The word “relegation” was being bandied about and there was a sense of foreboding in the air. And it wasn’t just Santa Claus who was contemplating a sack. Speculation was rife that Mikel Arteta would soon be looking for employment elsewhere.

Now, just a month later, everything looks different and no fact sums that up more acutely than this one: right now we are just four points behind Liverpool, the reigning Premier League champions and last year’s all-conquering heroes.

Admittedly we are four point behind having played one game more, so we could be seven points in their wake, but I make the point to show what a strange game football is and, in particular, how unpredictable this season is in the EPL.

This week’s results are another case in point: table-topping Manchester United lose at home to bottom placed Sheffield United; highly fancied Aston Villa vanquished by Burnely; top four challengers including Leicester, Everton and Chelsea all dropping points.

Teams are going on great runs for five or six games then, for inscrutable reasons, suddenly seeing their form go down the toilet (Chelsea are a perfect example).

This augurs both well and ominously for Arsenal. We had our terrible run. Right now we’re on an excellent run, but is it reasonable to expect us to keep it up?

There will probably be bumps in the road and for we fans it will be important to maintain perspective. We’ll need to remember the old Rudyard Kipling line about treating triumph and failure as equal impostors.

But the volatility of the Premier League this season also offers a real chance of redemption for us. If we can maintain a degree of consistency (and we have the players to do so) then we have a chance of gradually creeping up the table while others stutter.

Normally at this stage of the season and with this many points we would already be ruling out a top four finish for the boys in red and white, but this year of all years… I’m not so sure.

Keep the faith Gooners.

RockyLives

Our unbeaten streak in the EPL has been extended to 6 with a good win against the Saints!

A pleasant football match with both teams trying to create chances early on. We should have been up in the first minute but Laca missed a glorious opportunity. That lost opportunity proved costly as the Saints scored right away on a corner where their player is left unmarked in the middle of our surface area…But Pepe who was given a start on the left wing as Auba was missing restored parity with a well taken goal from a good assist from Xhaka. Fast forward and Laca atones for his miss with a glorious assist to Saka who rounded the keeper to finish in the empty net. But Saka is a kind player and after receiving a beautiful diagonal pass from Cedric, he first times a cross in front of goal for Lacazette. From then on, Saints tried to push and Luiz almost handed them a goal but Holding and Leno saved him the blushes. Another good save from Leno and the game was over.

Overall, we played well going forward and we were good enough at the back although we could have defended better. Our game management is improving for sure. Leno, Holding, Partey, Xhaka, Saka and Laca are in good form and Cedric had a great game at LB while Pepe showed some quality and had a decent game overall, scoring a vital goal. Arteta knows his set-up and is definitely close to having his starting XI.

Leno – 7. A solid performance.

Bellerin – 6. Still seems like our weak link

Holding – 7. Another solid outing

Luiz – 6.5. Not a bad performance but was the weaker CB and almost gave a goal away.

Cedric – 7.5. A very good game at LB. Impressive diagonal long passes and did the job defensively.

Partey – 6.5. Started brightly and then faded before going out in the second half. When he will be fully fit, he will be our heart and lung in midfield.

Xhaka – 7.5. Another assist and a tidy game. A bit slow at times but clearly a good spell for him.

Saka – 8. An assist, a goal and constantly creating chances. MOTM

ESR – 7. Industrious but went out injured.

Pepe – 7. A well taken goal and a positive attitude overall. A good showing but could have done better in some instances. Was this game the turning point of his AFC career?

Laca – 7.5. An assist, a goal and his usual drive, shame he missed his opening chance.