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Game #5717

Aston Villa

19-6-8, 63 PTS

Sunday, 14 April 2024

Won

4th (-)

Last 5: 🟩 🟥 🟨 🟩 🟩

Premier League

Arsenal

Attendance: 60,350

Emirates Stadium

22-5-5, 71 PTS

Arsenal

0-2

Aston Villa

Assist(s): Lucas Digne | 84’ | Youri Tielemans | 87’ |

MATCH SUMMARY

Pre-match In the race for fourth place it couldn’t be closer but dig a little deeper and the remaining six fixtures make fascinating reading. Arguably Spurs have the more difficult fixtures - facing the top 3 plus their nemesis club Chelsea. Villa face two of the top three but thereafter line up against mid table sides. Of course any club on their day can give you a game on any given day in the Premier League, but Villa have the upper hand on the comparative results each side faces. Spurs could only muster 10 points from the same fixtures that Villa now face and ended that sequence with a negative goal difference. Villa by contrast delivered 15 points and a +6 goal difference across their equivalent of Spurs’ next 6. Wherever the destiny of 4th ends then if Spurs can match Villa’s 🟩 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟩 🟩 in their final six games then you have to say they will deserve their late season run to clinch it. Realistically though it has been and remains Villa’s to lose… after all their record in the opposite fixtures against their final six opponents this season are 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟥 🟩. Villa 4th Played 32, 🟩 Won 18, 🟨 Drawn 6, 🟥 Lost 8, Goals for 66, Goals against 49, Goal difference 17, Points 60 Today: Arsenal (a)1st🟨 Spurs drew 2-2 21 April:Bournemouth (h)12th🟩 Spurs won 3-1 27 April:Chelsea (h)9th🟥 Spurs lost 1-4 4 May: Brighton (a)10th🟥 Spurs lost 2-4 13 May: Liverpool (h)2nd🟩 Spurs won 2-1 19 May:Palace (a)14th🟩 Spurs won 2-1 Spurs collected 10 points from the corresponding 6 fixtures, scoring 12, conceding 13. Spurs 5th Played 32, 🟩 Won 18, 🟨 Drawn 6, 🟥 Lost 8, Goals for 54, Goals against 49, Goal difference 16, Points 60 28 April:Arsenal (h)1st🟩 Villa won 1-0 2 May:Chelsea (a)9th🟩 Villa won 1-0 5 May:Liverpool (a)2nd🟥 Villa lost 0-3 11 MayBurnley (h)19th🟩 Villa won 3-2 14 MayMan City (h)3rd🟩 Villa won 1-0 19 MaySheff United (a)20th🟩 Villa won 5-0 Villa collected 15 points from the corresponding 6 fixtures, scoring 11, conceding 5. Villa face Arsenal for their first of six fixtures that could turn an unbelievable season into an unbelievable season with the foundation for an even better one next time out. Villa’s task though is not an easy one, Arsenal, nothing like the side we all know from old are in the form of their lives and no-one, but no-one gives Villa a chance. Strange given this is fourth against third - although a ten point gap does justify some concern - but Arsenal face a Villa side who really are everything that Manchester United and Chelsea are not. A defeat is expected. A disgrace isn’t. But tell the London media that. Post match: Hit the post twice, one a precision shot that beat the ‘keeper and rolled across the line and the other a thunderbolt. Both deserved much more. Villa though, before that, had weathered a genuine storm, Arsenal were an outstanding attacking force for 40 minutes and Emi Martínez had to again prove he was the World’s best goalkeeper to prevent Arsenal from scoring. Thereafter however it was all Unai Emery and Villa. The ground was full on empty mode before Villa hit their second and Arsenal and the lazy London media were beaten. Not for the first time this season. And probably not the last. Still Villa are right out of luck. After all, “League Champions in September” Tottenham Hotspur have already won their final six games apparently, whilst, Chelsea, the rightful fourth placed team according to Mauricio Pochettino (despite sitting 19 points adrift) have already clinched the spot, and Manchester “We will win our final 10 games” United are guaranteed to finish above unfancied Villa despite their own 13 point deficit. We’re sure it’s lovely to live in a world of delusion and entitlement but we’ll settle for reality and reaping what you sow every time.

KEY MAN

Youri Tielemans, an exceptional performance from a player who is quickly turning into a gem

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MATCH TIMELINE

Sunday, 14 April 2024

🟨 | 14’ Booking, Morgan Rogers for being fouled by Bukayo Saka
🕒 | 45’+4 HT Arsenal 0-0 Aston Villa
🔁 | 61’ Sub off, Moussa Diaby, Sub on, Leon Bailey
🔁 | 80’ Sub off, Nicolò Zaniolo (injury), Sub on, Álex Moreno
⚽ | 84’ Goal, 1-0, Leon Bailey, Assist by Lucas Digne
⚽ | 87’ Goal, 2-0, Ollie Watkins, Assist by Youri Tielemans
🕒 | 90’+9 FT Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa

ON THIS DAY

Ezri Konsa makes his 180th appearance for the club as Ollie Watkins makes his 150th start. Ollie Watkins scores his 19th Premier League goal of the season, equalling Christian Benteke’s haul from 2012-13 and the best since the new league’s inauguration in 1992-93.

Aston Villa

European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1995-96

Arsenal

European Cup / Champions League: ❌
UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 2019-20

FIXTURE HISTORY

Arsenal

Previous 5 vs. Arsenal: 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟩

FIXTURE DETAILS

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Season | 2023-24 |
Matchday | #48 |
League Game | #33 |
Manager Game | #75 |
Sunday, 14 April 2024
Attendance | 60,350 |

MATCH SUMMARY

Manager: Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 | Hondarribia, 2022-
Referee: David Coote | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Nottinghamshire, 2010-
Kick off: 4.30pm
HT Score: 🟨 0-0
FT Result: 🟩 Won
FT Score: 🟩 2-0
Last 5: 🟨 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟩

MANAGERIAL RECORD

Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 |

GAMES | WINS | DRAWS | LOSSES | POINTS PER GAME

🕒 75 | 🟩 | 43 🟨 | 13 🟥 19 | 1.89

Villa Career Form:

Top 4

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: David Coote | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Nottinghamshire, 2010-
Matches Officiated: 19
🟩 : 10
🟨 : 3
🟥 : 6
🆘 : 3
Previous 5: 🟥 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟨
Last Match: 🟨 14 January 2024, Villa 0-0 Everton, Goodison Park 🆘
Cards: 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨
Assistants: Tim Wood, Mark Scholes.
Fourth official: Paul Tierney.
VAR: Peter Bankes.
Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton.

The last two Villa matches in which David Coote has officiated have both resulted in shockingly poor performances as the official lost control of the matches early, allowed them to descend into little more than brawls and made bewilderingly inconsistent and plain wrong decisions throughout.

ALL THE MATCHES REFEREED BY:

CARDS

Villa

🟨

Arsenal

🟨 🟨 🟨

TEAM NEWS

Unai Emery brings in Nicolò Zaniolo for the suspended Douglas Luiz whilst Matty Cash returns to the squad after a four game absence with injury suffered on international duty.

TEAM STATS

Squad Average Age: 27.11
Starting XI Average Age: 27.58
Subs Average Age: 28.70
Bench Average Age: 26.54

Oldest Starter: GK Emiliano Martínez | 🇦🇷 | 33.73 |
Youngest Starter: W Morgan Rogers | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 21.73 |

Oldest Squad Player: GK Robin Olsen | 🇸🇪 | 33.73 |
Youngest Squad Player: CF Jhon Durán | 🇨🇴 | 20.35 |

Oldest Substitute: LB Álex Moreno | 🇪🇸 | 30.71 |
Youngest Substitute: W Leon Bailey | 🇯🇲 | 26.70 |

MANAGER

Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 |

Villa.gif

Aston Villa

GK Emiliano Martínez | 🇦🇷 |
CB Ezri Konsa | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Pau Torres | 🇪🇸 |
CB Diego Carlos | 🇧🇷 |
LB Lucas Digne | 🇫🇷 | 🔥 |
M John McGinn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 |
M Youri Tielemans | 🇧🇪 | 🔥 |
M Morgan Rogers | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🟨 |
M Nicolò Zaniolo | 🇮🇹 | 🔁 |
W Moussa Diaby | 🇫🇷 | 🔁 |
CF Ollie Watkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | ⚽ |

MANAGER

Mikel Arteta | 🇪🇸 |

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Arsenal

GK David Raya | 🇪🇸 |
RB Ben White | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🟨 | 🔁 |
CB William Saliba | 🇫🇷 |
CB Gabriel Magalhães | 🇧🇷 | 🟨 |
LB Oleksandr Zinchenko | 🇺🇦 | 🔁 |
M Martin Ødegaard | 🇳🇴 | 🔁 |
M Declan Rice | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Kai Havertz | 🇩🇪 | 🟨 |
W Bukayo Saka | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
W Leandro Trossard | 🇧🇪 | 🔁 |
CF Gabriel Jesus | 🇧🇷 | 🔁 |

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Not necessarily indicative of the actual matchday formation

SUBSTITUTES

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🔁 | W Leon Bailey | 🇯🇲 | ⚽ | for W Moussa Diaby | 🇫🇷 | 61’ |
🔁 | LB Álex Moreno | 🇪🇸 | for M Nicolò Zaniolo | 🇮🇹 | 80’ |

SUBSTITUTES

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🔁 | RB Takehiro Tomiyasu | 🇯🇵 | for RB Ben White | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 67’ |
🔁 | W Gabriel Martinelli | 🇧🇷 | for W Leandro Trossard | 🇧🇪 | 67’ |
🔁 | M Emile Smith Rowe | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | for M Martin Ødegaard | 🇳🇴 | 79’ |
🔁 | CF Eddie Nketiah | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | for LB Oleksandr Zinchenko | 🇺🇦 | 87’ |
🔁 | M Jorginho | 🇮🇹 | for CF Gabriel Jesus | 🇧🇷 | 87’ |

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UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

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GK Robin Olsen | 🇸🇪 |
RB Matty Cash | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇵🇱 |
RB Kaine Kesler Hayden | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Calum Chambers | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Clément Lenglet | 🇫🇷 |
M Tim Iroegbunam | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CF Jhon Durán | 🇨🇴 |

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

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GK Aaron Ramsdale | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Jakub Kiwior | 🇵🇱 |
M Thomas Partey | 🇬🇭 |
M Fábio Vieira | 🇵🇹 |

Villa.gif

SQUAD STATS

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1st XI Cost: £200.18m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 4/11
Homegrown: ⭕/11

Subs Cost: £40.39m
Team Cost: £250.57m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 4/13
Homegrown: ⭕/13

Matchday Squad Cost: £272.03m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 8/20
Homegrown: 2/20

Total Squad Cost: £377.46m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 18/37
Homegrown: 11/37

MATCHDAY SQUAD

Villa.gif

GK Emiliano Martínez | 🇦🇷 | £15.66m |
GK Robin Olsen | 🇸🇪 | £3.00m |

CB Pau Torres | 🇪🇸 | £28.60m |
CB Diego Carlos | 🇧🇷 | £27.90m |
CB Ezri Konsa | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £11.97m |
CB Calum Chambers | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Free |
CB Clément Lenglet | 🇫🇷 | Loan |

LB Lucas Digne | 🇫🇷 | £27.00m |
RB Matty Cash | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇵🇱 | £14.18m |
LB Álex Moreno | 🇪🇸 | £11.59m |
RB Kaine Kesler Hayden | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |

M Morgan Rogers | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £8.00m |
M John McGinn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | £2.79m |
M Tim Iroegbunam | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |
M Youri Tielemans | 🇧🇪 | Free |
M Nicolò Zaniolo | 🇮🇹 | Loan |

W Moussa Diaby | 🇫🇷 | £47.66m |
W Leon Bailey | 🇯🇲 | £28.80m |

CF Ollie Watkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £30.60m |
CF Jhon Durán | 🇨🇴 | £14.28m |

SQUAD STATS

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1st XI Cost: £398.77m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 3/11
Homegrown: 1/11

Subs Cost: £33.13m
Team Cost: £431.90m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 5/16
Homegrown: 2/16

Matchday Squad Cost: £554.08m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 6/20
Homegrown: 3/20

Total Squad Cost: £655.64m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 10/31
Homegrown: 6/31

MATCHDAY SQUAD

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GK Aaron Ramsdale | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £25.20m |
GK David Raya | 🇪🇸 | Loan |

CB William Saliba | 🇫🇷 | £27.00m |
CB Gabriel Magalhães | 🇧🇷 | £23.40m |
CB Jakub Kiwior | 🇵🇱 | £22.12m |

RB Ben White | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £52.65m |
LB Oleksandr Zinchenko | 🇺🇦 | £31.00m |
RB Takehiro Tomiyasu | 🇯🇵 | £16.74m |

M Declan Rice | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £100.00m |
M Kai Havertz | 🇩🇪 | £65.00m |
M Thomas Partey | 🇬🇭 | £43.36m |
M Martin Ødegaard | 🇳🇴 | £31.50m |
M Fábio Vieira | 🇵🇹 | £31.50m |
M Jorginho | 🇮🇹 | £10.00m |
M Emile Smith Rowe | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |

W Leandro Trossard | 🇧🇪 | £21.24m |
W Gabriel Martinelli | 🇧🇷 | £6.39m |
W Bukayo Saka | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |

CF Gabriel Jesus | 🇧🇷 | £46.98m |
CF Eddie Nketiah | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |

UNAVAILABLE

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Injury | 4 |
W Emiliano Buendía | 🇦🇷 | ACL
CB Tyrone Mings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | ACL
M Boubacar Kamara | 🇫🇷 | ACL
M Jacob Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Foot

Suspension | 1 |
M Douglas Luiz | 🇧🇷 |

Out On Loan | 7 |
CF Louie Barry | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Stockport
GK Viljami Sinisalo | 🇫🇮 | Exeter
M Morgan Sanson | 🇫🇷 | Nice
M Philippe Coutinho | 🇧🇷 | Al-Duhail
M Leander Dendoncker | 🇧🇪 | Napoli
CB Josh Feeney | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Real Unión
M Tommi O'Reilly | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Real Unión

UNAVAILABLE

Villa.gif

Injury | 1 |
CB Jurrien Timber | 🇳🇱 |

Out on Loan | 5 |
GK Arthur Okonkwo | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
LB Kieran Tierney | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 |
LB Nuno Tavares | 🇵🇹 |
M Albert Sambi Lokonga | 🇧🇪 |
W Marquinhos | 🇧🇷 |

Player Positions:

GK : Goalkeeper
CB, D, B : Centre Back, Defender, Back
FB, LB, RB, WH : Full Back, Left Back, Right Back, Wing Back, Wing Half


M, CH, LH, RH : Midfielder, Centre Half, Left Half, Right Half
W, OL, OR : Winger, Outside Left, Outside Right
F, IF, IL, IR : Forward, Inside Forward, Inside Left, Inside Right, Second Striker, False 9
CF : Centre Forward

Match Symbols:

⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution

🟨 | Booking

🟥 | Sending off

🆘 | Poor refereeing performance
🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game

DEBUT APPEARANCES

FINAL APPEARANCES

MATCH STATS

Possession F | 49%

Possession A | 51%


Shots F | 11
Shots A | 18

Shots on Target F | 2
Shots on Target A | 4

Corners F | 6
Corners A | 4

Fouls F | 7
Fouls A | 12

LEAGUE TABLE

2021-22 Matchweek 38.jpg

MATCHDAY PROGRAMME

MATCH QUOTES

"Before the match we were very motivated and very excited about the possibility. "This is a very tough match and we needed to be focusing very well defensively. We wanted to be strong and have high commitment to defence as were in the first half. We tried to do 90 minutes being consistent and wait for our moment to control the game. "The first half was more difficult but we tried to dominate with the ball. We did that less than in the second half. "Second half we competed very well. But we are not being consistent in every match like I want. But today we were fantastic." "We analyse deeply before each match and we played 10 ago at Manchester City and lost 4-1. We were trying to understand a lot of things we did good but we needed one step to do something better. "Today was an example. Firstly, it was in defence. The defence was strong. We tried to be narrow and avoid line passes then being compact with the players. More or less, that was the first idea we had. "Then it as about trying to get time with the ball. We did, better in the second half and we imposed ourselves." Unai Emery, post match "I enjoy every win but the fans have been supporting us home and away. We knew an away win would help our Champions League hopes. "This is the first step, we've got five finals left. But we need to enjoy this one then go again on Thursday and try to make the semi-finals. "I think it was 10-11 years I was here. I've still got friends here. I came here as a lad and left a man. I'll always love this club. "They are still second, they've come far and have one of the best managers in the world. I've worked with Mikel [Arteta]. I know how good he is. "I tried to keep the team in the game, I always try to keep focused and make saves. "I think Ollie should win player of the season. When you play for a 'big six' side, you get more credit but Ollie has scored 19 goals with the chances he's got. He should be a contender." Emiliano Martínez "It's massive to come away to Arsenal when they're playing such good football and controlling games, to play like that just shows where we've come and where we're going. "It was probably a perfect away performance. "I grew up supporting Arsenal but it's a different story now that I'm playing against them. "Any win is a big result but considering the other results, we're focusing on ourselves but we're fighting for Champions League and we knew it was going to be tough today but we've shown what a good side we are. "A lot of people doubted us, they thought we played good football but couldn't get a result here. We've proved a lot of people wrong." Ollie Watkins. "I am very happy. I think the players were very focused. We were analysing our process as a team and individually. We prepared this match as a very difficult match, but a great opportunity to get three points. "We were ready to play strongly. We were ready to play under their pressure during the match. Even then we were convinced we could play in our moment and we did it. We needed the goalkeeper and the defence together. We needed high commitment. "We had to feel comfortable on the pitch and to try to progressively feel comfortable on the pitch, keeping possession and getting our chances. "Day 33. Okay, 63 … we could now be contenders. We must be very demanding to keep it. “They are doing amazing this season and they are even competing - like us - in Europe against Bayern Munich. Poof, these are very tough matches but we are here in the Premier League enjoying because it’s the best league in the world. Sharing with Europe is very tough but it’s the best for us coaches to enjoy and to have these problems when you are facing matches like today or Bayern for them, for us Lille. We have to play always being consistent, being very demanding to get our best performance. “When you are preparing one match, you know maybe if you can deserve to win or deserve to lose but you have to be clinical and you have to keep being consistent in your mind. To beat Arsenal here or to beat Arsenal in Villa Park is very difficult because they are very competitive. “To come here is something important for a coach because as a coach it’s very difficult to come here and beat Arsenal. After my time here, I came here two times – one with Villarreal and one now. My moment here was fantastic as well individually but now everything is for Aston Villa, for me it’s the same three points we go for against Brentford and next week Bournemouth. "I think we played more or less the same. Playing against Arsenal in their stadium or at Villa Park, they are both very difficult. Each match has different circumstances and I think it is better to try to be consistent in 38 matches and of course, every match is very important they have three points. "We have to try and focus each match. Today, we defended fantastic, like we did a lot of times in 90 minutes in Manchester against City, but we lost. Today it was the same idea in the game plan. We also used some clips of that match - we did the same. We avoided some more chances of Arsenal and we got more chances for us. We were clinical scoring goals. "We are trying always to dominate and get possession and avoiding their press. We were concerned before the match because the only way to win here was to keep the ball more than Arsenal in some moments. If we were always running then it would be hard for 90 minutes doing it. Today, we focused on it. Through it we can feel better. “The first half was the same game plan, only the first half we didn’t do because the opponent was pushing being more successful on the pitch as well tactically. The second half we tried to continue building up, trying to avoid the press and then trying to maybe find Zaniolo with the long ball, the hold up was fantastic. After it, we were dominating more. Sometimes, the opponent were going lower and we were with the possibility to keep the ball more. "I am very happy for him [Nicolò Zaniolo]. At the beginning of the season it was very difficult and the impression was not easy but I told you and told him one or two months ago, something changed. He was focusing more and better, training more and better, focusing each match as well helping the team, playing 10 minutes, 20, 30, 45, 60, and today he showed it. We needed him, I told him before and today he showed us. From here until the end of the season, we will need these players available.” Unai Emery, post match. “Not bad for a winger trying to be a striker.” Ollie Watkins responds to the retarded, waste of Oxygen that is Tory Deeney, the only player to be universally hated by all the clubs he PLAYED for. “Don’t **** with the Villa.” Liam Gallagher

MATCH REPORT

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