Arsenal player ratings vs Aston Villa: Saka secures huge 1-0 win

Midfielders

Martin Odegaard (AM) – 8/10 – Villa saw that link between Odegaard and Saka as the strongest in the Gunners team, aiming to keep it tight in those areas. Despite that, the Norwegian still glided across the pitch an fed some lovely balls through the lines and in behind, keeping Arsenal flowing through the thirds with his delightful weight of pass.

Played his way out of tight spaces so smartly, relieving crucial pressure on the team.

Thomas Partey (DM) – 9/10 – Excellent once again in the middle of the park, the best word to describe Partey’s performance is ‘clean’. He almost never gave the ball away and always showed for a pass, even showing some twinkle toes with a few clever flicks beyond his man to charge into space.

Dropping world class performances every week.

Granit Xhaka (AM) – 8/10 – Got handed a stupid yellow card for no reason other than the referee thinking ‘it’s Xhaka’.

In terms of his performance he played some lovely one-touch football in tight areas, the like you don’t normally see from him, and it played its part in some elegant build up play. Was physical throughout and won plenty of second balls.

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