Arsenal are off to their best Premier League start ever and it has been a blast to watch.
This team is fun, efficient, and has shown they can get their hands dirty to win games.
Obviously, we’ve got a long year ahead with a lot of tough matches, but what’s the point if you don’t celebrate being top of the league after the first month comes to a close?
Here are 3 positives and negatives from the win over Aston Villa
The Gunners were excellent on Wednesday night, and here are three positives and negatives from their eventual 2-1 triumph.
Positive #1: Sambi Lokonga
https://twitter.com/now_arsenaI/status/1565096249191288839?s=20&t=Wm34YnoxZftngPu2b3UWtw
My boyyyyyy. Mohamed Elneny’s injury setback brought about a lot of speculation over who should start in his place, but there was only one option in my mind: Albert Sambi Lokonga.
The trust shown in him absolutely paid off today as he produced a Man of the Match-worthy display. This was the first settled lineup that he has played in as a lone #6 and the experience around him helped him flourish in the role.
He has the tools to be great in this position and given some stability around him and the opportunities, I have no doubts that my guy will come through.
He has shown flashes of being a proper number 6 and some of his tackles were amazing along with the ball progression that we just don’t see from Elneny. I’m very excited about Lokonga getting his shot.
Negative #1: Referee
Villa’s aggression often went unpunished. (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)
I feel like this has been the first time I’ve had major issues with the referee this season because I didn’t like his performance.
Villa were kicking our players all over the pitch with little reprimanding and there were some egregious calls, including the decision not to rule out Villa’s equaliser.
Villa’s physicality wasn’t put in check early on and it created issues with player safety. Multiple Arsenal players picked up injuries because of this complacent refereeing and it is very frustrating to see.
Continued on the next slide…
#8s</a><br>Xhaka, Gabriel, White, Cedric with ESR-Øde<br>Tavares, Gabriel, White, Cedric</p>
<p>No need to explain why it will go much better this time around.</p>
<p>— NS (@NSftbl) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/09/01/3-positives-negatives-from-arsenal-win-over-aston-villa/"https://twitter.com/NSftbl/status/1564588809681092608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>August 30, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>He has the tools to be great in this position and given some stability around him and the opportunities, I have no doubts that my guy will come through.</p>
<p>He has shown flashes of being a proper number 6 and some of his tackles were amazing along with the ball progression that we just don’t see from Elneny. I’m very excited about Lokonga getting his shot.</p>
<h2>Negative #1: Referee</h2>
<div id="attachment_129029" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-129029 size-full" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/09/01/3-positives-negatives-from-arsenal-win-over-aston-villa/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2284,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1419667292.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2284" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1419667292.jpeg 3200w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1419667292-768x548.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Villa’s aggression often went unpunished. (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)</p>
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<p>I feel like this has been the first time I’ve had major issues with the referee this season because I didn’t like his performance.</p>
<p>Villa were kicking our players all over the pitch with little reprimanding and there were some egregious calls, including the decision not to rule out Villa’s equaliser.</p>
<p>Villa’s physicality wasn’t put in check early on and it created issues with player safety. Multiple Arsenal players picked up injuries because of this complacent refereeing and it is very frustrating to see.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/09/01/3-positives-negatives-from-arsenal-win-over-aston-villa/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #2 positive & negative </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><h2>Positive #2: The three Gabis</h2>
<div id="attachment_129030" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-129030 size-full" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/09/01/3-positives-negatives-from-arsenal-win-over-aston-villa/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1419688605.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1419688605.jpeg 3200w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1419688605-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Our Brazilians starred against Villa. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)</p>
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<p>All three of the Gabis were fantastic today with Martinelli and Jesus each getting on the scoresheet, while big Gabi was our best defender on the night.</p>
<p>Jesus and Martinelli are nightmares for opposing defenders with the way they press, and they earned their goals today by being in great spots.</p>
<p>Gabriel was so solid today, too, with his stand-out moment being the huge tackle to prevent a breakaway. A big match for our Brazilian trio.</p>
<h2>Negative #2: Villa’s goal</h2>
<div id="attachment_129031" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-129031 size-full" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/09/01/3-positives-negatives-from-arsenal-win-over-aston-villa/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2173,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1419686029.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2173" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1419686029.jpeg 3200w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1419686029-768x522.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Should Douglas Luiz’s goal have stood? (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)</p>
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<p>One of the most frustrating things from the match was the scoreline. Arsenal accumulated way more good chances and could have won the game 5-0 or more. Instead, it was a nailbiter but credit to the team for having the fight to get a goal right after conceding – something we’ve done really well this season.</p>
<div class="embed ">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">2<br>1<br>8<br>3</p>
<p>The number of minutes it took Arsenal to score after conceding each of their four goals this season. </p>
<p>Rapid responses 👏</p>
<p>— Adrian Clarke (@adrianjclarke) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/09/01/3-positives-negatives-from-arsenal-win-over-aston-villa/"https://twitter.com/adrianjclarke/status/1565098340190228481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>August 31, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Unfortunately, we did concede a goal and it was fluky. It was a beautiful goal by Douglas Luiz but Boubacar Kamara was blatantly impeding Ramsdale which isn’t allowed and it was certainly a surprise to see the goal stand.</p>
<p>Obviously, it isn’t huge in the grand scheme of things because we won the game but had the result have been different, that would’ve been an infuriating way to drop two points.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/09/01/3-positives-negatives-from-arsenal-win-over-aston-villa/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #3 positive & negative </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><h2>Positive #3: Impacts of the bench</h2>
<div id="attachment_129019" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-129019 size-full" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/09/01/3-positives-negatives-from-arsenal-win-over-aston-villa/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2179,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1242845970.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2179" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1242845970.jpeg 3200w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1242845970-768x523.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Eddie Nketiah impressed off the bench again. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)</p>
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<p>I think that Arteta has been too late to use his bench in matches, but his timings seem to be working so who am I to complain! All four of the men off the bench; Takehiro Tomiyasu, Eddie Nketiah, Rob Holding, and Emile Smith Rowe did a fantastic job in closing the game out. Tomiyasu and Nketiah, in particular, were great in ensuring we got all three points.</p>
<p>Tomiyasu was a solid defender coming in for White (who also played very well) and had a key contribution for the second goal.</p>
<p>Nketiah… oh Nketiah was fantastic. His role of being an outlet while closing out the match was performed to perfection to kill the contest.</p>
<h2>Negative #3: Injuries</h2>
<div id="attachment_129032" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-129032 size-full" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/09/01/3-positives-negatives-from-arsenal-win-over-aston-villa/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2065,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1419725438.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2065" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1419725438.jpeg 3200w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1419725438-768x496.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Martin Odegaard picked up a knock on Wednesday. (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)</p>
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<p>As a result of the needlessly physical game that Villa played, both Martin Ødegaard and Ramsdale went down with injuries.</p>
<p>Obviously, the squad is already dealing with some absences and losing these two for any amount of time could prove to be detrimental, especially with United on Sunday.</p>
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<p>Hopefully they’ll both be good to go this weekend.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
