A disastrous night sees Arsenal lose to Villa away for the first time in 17 seasons. Zero shots on target say more about Arsenal’s attack than Villa’s defense. It also means Arsenal cannot finish inside the Top 6, or above Sp*rs.
Martinez - steady enough night for the big shot-stopper. Couldn’t do much about the goal but did leave a huge gap for Davis in 75th minute, yet somehow he missed. 5
Luiz - a poor game after a monstrous effort on Saturday. Will be disappointed with the goal especially after his performance v City. 4
Holding - a steady game but was caught out badly with a through ball in 75th minute. Needs to be a better presence in the opposition box. 5.5
Kolasinac - not confident in his ability to defend a high ball, nor in his positional sense. Too one-footed and gets caught out. 4
Cedric - early days and he’s bound to be rusty, but currently he does not do enough, in my opinion, to justify a starting place, never mind a 4-year contract. Hope he proves me wrong. Crossing very average and too easily read. 4
Saka - the hysteria around him is bound to be difficult. He’s a phenomenal talent but hard to know where his best position is. Needs a bit of a rest and recharge. 5
Torreira - really want him to commit himself and show what he can do but he’s struggling in this system. Combative and busy, he picked up a yellow chasing the ball after poor hold up play. Replaced at HT, but not sure it was entirely justified. 5.5
Ceballos - worst performance in a while. Too slow to read the game and wasteful with passes. That being said, he showed touches of class, albeit fleetingly. 5
Aubameyang - again, another flat performance after a huge one on Saturday. Far too wasteful in possession and not showing enough for the ball. Can’t help but feel he played not to get injured with the FA Cup final merely days away. Hopefully saving his energy to “sign dating!” Should have done better when he got in behind in the second half. 5
Nketiah - the jury is out on Eddie. Good on his day but sometimes offers little help to hold the ball up. Was outmuscled too often and should have scored with ease from Pepe’s corner. 4
Lacazette - too many minutes under the belt recently and it showed. He held the ball up well but in truth had little creativity to help him out. Should not be risked v Watford. 5
Xhaka - added much-needed composure in the second half but did not have keys to unlock the gate. 6
Tierney - tried to run Guilbert a few times with mixed results. Solid defensively. One of those nights. 5
Willock - couldn’t do much in the time he had. 5
Pepe - needed to do more. He should be squaring his man up to beat him but he didn’t often enough. Not the performance we saw on Saturday. Need him firing for next Saturday. 5
MOTM - how do you pick one after that performance? Best we forget about it and focus on getting through unscathed against Watford. And maybe relegate Troy “Cojones” Deeney in the process?
Ceballos was our best player by far. Didn't always ome off but he kept dragging us forward.
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