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Arsenal Vs Aston Villa: 5 things we learned – Midtable performance; midtable team

By Andrew Dowdeswell

Arsenal, Eddie Nketiah (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Arsenal, Eddie Nketiah (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
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BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – JULY 21: David Luiz of Arsenal reacts with his team during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Arsenal FC at Villa Park on July 21, 2020 in Birmingham, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Peter Powell/Pool via Getty Images)
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – JULY 21: David Luiz of Arsenal reacts with his team during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Arsenal FC at Villa Park on July 21, 2020 in Birmingham, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Peter Powell/Pool via Getty Images) /

1. Midtable performance; midtable team

The inconsistency of the team must be infuriating for Mikel Arteta. No player came out of this defeat with any sort of credit. No player stood up and took responsibility. No player drove Arsenal forward and out of their rut. This was simply a dreadful performance, and the recent week painfully illustrates the course of their season.

Such inconsistency is the staple of midtable teams. When it clicks, they can compete with the very best, as Arsenal did against Liverpool and Chelsea. But if they are required to perform throughout 38-game league campaign and compete in multiple competitions, they simply do not have the quality or character to do so.

The machine-like success of City and Liverpool prove the level that teams must reach. What makes them so brilliant is not their ability to perform at their highest level every now and then, but rather to replicate that performance over and over and over again.

Next. Arsenal Vs Aston Villa: Player ratings. dark

It is a stark contrast to Arsenal. The Gunners are a midtable team. This was a midtable performance. And for the first time in 25 years, Arsenal will succumb to a deserved midtable finish.