{"id":12367,"date":"2025-12-04T22:53:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T22:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12367"},"modified":"2025-12-07T11:08:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T11:08:23","slug":"tasty-villa-away-test-for-table-topping-gunners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12367","title":{"rendered":"Tasty Villa away test for table-topping Gunners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2193968462\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:65.48821% 0 0 0;width:100%;text-align:center;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2193968462?et=Rmtv3rf6S9VBwwKezHaOjw&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=NhJzw7FV5y6KMH4EymznCwKxrKKsHBIPa7A6Rk1VVQk=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"389\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;text-align:center;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In a particularly busy week of a congested month and season, at Villa Park on Saturday lunchtime Arsenal will face their second Premier League contest of December, prior to their excursion to Belgium in the Champions League on Wednesday.&nbsp; In all, the Gunners will contest eight games across three competitions in December concluding with the reverse league fixture against Villa on the 30th in North London.&nbsp; So far, so good of course as we are topping the table in two different leagues, but with our injury situation continuing to be in flux we might all offer a note of thanks to the powers that be that we strengthened our squad last summer for months exactly like this one.<br><br><strong>Aston Villa<\/strong><br>Unai Emery\u2019s Midlands muchachos played sluggishly the first few weeks of the season, and in late September they were languishing in 18th spot in the table but after eight wins in nine Premier League games Villa have regained the belief that can beat anyone.&nbsp; After 14 matches played, the Birmingham side now sit 3rd in the table with 27 points, or 6 fewer than Arsenal.&nbsp; Villa won their fourth successive league contest in midweek with an impressive 4-3 victory at Brighton after conceding the first two goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Villa team that started at Brighton on Wednesday was: Bizot, Maatsen, Torres, Konsa, Cash, Onana, Kamara, Guessand, Rogers, McGinn, and Watkins, with substitutes Bogarde, Buend\u00eda, Digne, Garc\u00eda, Malen, Lindel\u00f6f, Sancho, and Tielemans.&nbsp; Second choice keeper Bizot, who started when Martinez was injured in the warmup, conceded within ten minutes after flapping at a Brighton corner, and conceded another one on a deflection before the half hour.&nbsp; Villa\u2019s attackers were ineffective until Watkins turned in a cross and made it 2-2 on a counterattack just before halftime.&nbsp; Onana\u2019s header put Villa ahead by 3-2 on 60 minutes, and ex-Arsenal youth Malen made it four after coming off the bench before Brighton got a consolation goal.&nbsp; Villa displayed an impressive spirit and determination to pull off that comeback, and they have played themselves into excellent form as well as an excellent perch near the top of the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Villa present a distinct danger on free kicks so the Gunners must do what they can to deny such opportunities, even as the referee may not cooperate on that score.&nbsp; Buend\u00eda and Rogers tallied masterful free kick goals in Villa\u2019s recent league wins over Bournemouth and Leeds, respectively.&nbsp; After their most recent home game last Sunday when Villa beat Wolves, their Basque boss commended the rejuvenated atmosphere at Villa Park:&nbsp;\u201cThe fans transmit positive energy and it helps us to connect with the supporters. It\u2019s like our fortress.\u201d<br><br><strong>Arsenal team news<\/strong><br>Saliba missed the last three games with a minor injury but before the Brentford match Arteta said he could be back within days, so your guess is as good as mine whether Big Willy will be part of our central defensive pairing but after Mosquera came off during Wednesday\u2019s game I think and hope Saliba may return.&nbsp; If not, Ben White could continue at right back with Timber moving centrally as he did in the second half against Brentford. &nbsp;On the other side Calafiori may be due a rest, and MLS stands ready to deputise, but the challenge presented by Villa away may make it a good time to stay with the Italian\u2019s physicality.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Up front, Trossard is still an injury doubt but Gyokeres and Odegaard have been back for the last two games so should feature again.&nbsp; In central midfield, Arteta might look for a way to include both \u00d8degaard and Eze.&nbsp; One possible solution could entail Eze moving to the left in place of Trossard, and restoring the captain to his central role. If so, Arsenal could begin with a team something like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Raya<br>Timber Saliba Hincapi\u00e9 Calafiori&nbsp;<br>Zubimendi \u00d8degaard Rice<br>Saka Merino Eze<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The \u2018holic pound<\/strong><br>If you want a tip on where to put your well-earned cash you may be in big trouble, but while he is on a hot streak, who could bet against Mikel Merino to score again.&nbsp; Or why not two or three while his boots (and head) are so hot to the touch.&nbsp; With all those factors considered, you may expect (pray for) this scoreline:&nbsp; Aston Villa 1 Arsenal 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enjoy the game, \u2018holics, near and far.&nbsp; Three points please!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Willow Christmas Challenge!<\/strong><br>A message from Willow. The link is <a href=\"https:\/\/donate.biggive.org\/campaign\/a05WS000006Tmx3YAC?mc_cid=96a446f9c5&amp;mc_eid=96bf4efa6c\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"550\" height=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/willow25.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12370\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/willow25.png 550w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/willow25-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/willow25-75x57.png 75w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images In a particularly busy week of a congested month and season, at Villa Park on Saturday lunchtime Arsenal will face their second Premier League contest of December, prior to their excursion to Belgium in the Champions League on Wednesday.&nbsp; In all, the Gunners will contest eight games across three competitions in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12367"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12367"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12389,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12367\/revisions\/12389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}