Arsenal must set new Mikel Arteta record vs Aston Villa

The defeat to Liverpool obviously doesn’t derail the season. Far from it. When the campaign concludes and Arsenal know where they are in the table it will be other results that will have defined 2021/22.

It’s impossible to see this team week in and week out and not see tangible signs of progress. Games against the very best that English and European football has to offer will bear more significance in due course. For now, it’s all about Aston Villa.

As comforting as the top four chase may have looked for Arsenal, it was anything but. Collecting eight wins from their previous 11 had put the Gunners in a fine position to return to the Champions League for the first time since 2017 but the job was far from over.

One defeat to a side that may lift the Premier League title come May does nonetheless change the mood. Suddenly the gap to Manchester United and Tottenham isn’t as reassuring. But all will be forgotten about if Mikel Arteta’s side can respond in positive fashion on Saturday.

Arsenal must set new Mikel Arteta record vs Aston Villa with Gunners aiming for five straight Premier League away wins for first time since 2015

While performances are a measure of progress, on this occasion it is the result that matters. That is all.

Arsenal have to leave Villa Park three points better off. Whether Aaron Ramsdale needs to pull off a string of excellent saves to ensure victory or not isn’t of great significance. The incredibly short turnover time is sure to impact the display in some way and, by hook or by crook, winning is all that matters as it dispels the events of midweek and maintains a course that is still on the right trajectory.

To do so will require a new record being broken under Arteta. Victory over Leicester ensured the Gunners recorded five straight Premier League wins for the first time, a feat they have yet to achieve on the road.

Currently on a four-game winning run away from home, a win in the Second City will confirm Arsenal have won five consecutive league matches outside of north London not just for the first time under Arteta, but for the first time since May 2015. On that occasion four wins by a single goal scoreline were completed with a 3-1 success away at Hull.

A similar feat on the weekend will see Arsenal head into the international break with their destiny still in their hands, as well as pile the pressure on Tottenham who host West Ham on Sunday.

There are some seriously big tests awaiting this young team with April boasting no fewer than five matches – including three in seven days – with another huge clash against West Ham on May 1.

With undoubted positives to take from the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool, including an overall level of performance that would see them win any match in this division apart from the two runaway leaders, the simple fact of the matter is that Arsenal have to respond.