Arsenal at Villa Park, Ollie and Emi gone and match facts from the BBC

The first home match of the season is always a good one. It doesn’t tell you much these days but it does remind you that proper football is back.

And tonight, it’s back. But before looking at the match we’ve had a couple of players leave and some come in since the last post. And even though there are no surprises, something needs to be written.

I don’t think I’ve seen a better keeper at Aston Villa than Emi Martinez and I’ve seen a few. I always thought nobody would be better than Mark Bosnich, but Emi was. Him wanting to leave the last couple of seasons will soon be forgotten. He became the best in the world at Aston Villa and we enjoyed that. He’s put himself in a place where he can win the League this season and you can’t begrudge him that.

And Ollie Watkins was confirmed yesterday also. And you know what, good luck to him. He’s 30 years old, we saw the best of him and we made him one of the best strikers in England. He’s now off to earn what can only be described as obscene wealth and who can blame him.

We saw the best of both. And hopefully we will see the best of Nicolas Jackson, who arrived last week also and will no doubt be our new striker. There is no doubt he has talent and he’s done it at the top table so let’s just hope he can do it with us.

It’s been a surprising and interesting summer but I think I speak for everyone when I say we have complete faith in the owners and manager and that we also appreciate such upheaval can mean time to adjust. Fortunately, we’re in a League this season with a lot of that and I suspect while our chances of winning the League will have dropped, we’re still going to fight for 90 minutes every match and give it everything.

And while I’d have liked a player or three to stay, if we end up where I think we will end up, I think we’ll all be happy. And yes, just for the record, we’ve also brought in Leon Goretzka, Matteo Ruggeri and Aaron Wan-Bissaka since the last post. Three not bad players that will all play a role this season.

Arsenal at Villa Park tonight

They won’t get much tougher this season than Arsenal and if you believe the north London press, Ezri Konsa will be starting his first game for Arsenal at Villa Park. I’d have liked Konsa to stay and I think Arsenal will get the best of him, but I’m not sure how much he will play when they have a full strength side.

And when I was growing up, I believe this to be true, they didn’t publish the League table until 6 games in and I’m writing that to say, if things don’t go our way tonight we shouldn’t worry too much, it’s only the second game and chances are we are going to be having a player or three making their debut, we should look for the positives.

And I’m not writing this to say we are going to lose. Anything can happen in football in 90 minutes and with this manager and these players, anything is possible. Last week was a blip and we are going to get better every game.

Match facts from the BBC

• Aston Villa have won four of their seven home games against Arsenal since their return to the Premier League in 2019 (L3), more than they had in their first 24 against them at Villa Park in the competition (W3 D9 L12).
• Arsenal have won 15 Premier League games at Villa Park, more than they have at any other away venue in the competition.
• Aston Villa have won their last three Premier League home games against the reigning champions, as many times as they had in their first 28 (W3 D10 L15).
• Aston Villa won at home against Manchester City in both 2023-24 and 2024-25, and beat Liverpool at Villa Park last season. The last team to beat the reigning top-flight champions at home in more successive uninterrupted seasons were Luton Town, who did seven in a row between 1985-86 and 1991-92.
• Arsenal have won their first away game in each of the last four Premier League seasons, also keeping a clean sheet each time. The Gunners have never won their opening away game in five consecutive league campaigns before.
• Aston Villa were beaten 4-0 on MD1 against Brighton and Hove Albion. The last time they lost their first two league games in a season was in 2019-20, while the last time they lost both without scoring was in 2002-03. The most goals they’ve ever conceded in their first two games was eight in 1982-83, when they were reigning European champions.
• Mikel Arteta is set to take charge of his 250th Premier League game, becoming only the 10th manager in the competition’s history to oversee 250 games for a single side. Indeed, only Pep Guardiola (70.8%), Alex Ferguson (65.2%) and Jürgen Klopp (62.6%) have a higher win rate among managers with 250+ games than Arteta’s 60.2% currently (W150 D48 L51).
• Aston Villa have failed to score in five of their last six Premier League games in August, including the last four across the last two seasons. Including his time at Arsenal, Unai Emery has lost 50% of his August games (8/16), his highest percentage in one month in the Premier League.
• Martin Ødegaard has already matched his Premier League total for goals last season (1 in 24 games) in this season, scoring against Coventry on MD1. Arsenal’s captain hasn’t scored in consecutive league appearances since May 2023.
• Despite only coming on in the 68th minute, Noni Madueke created more chances than any other player in Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Coventry (4) – since 2003-04, only Aaron Ramsey against Wolves in December 2011 (6 in 19 minutes) has played fewer minutes in a Premier League game for the Gunners while creating 4+ chances.