3 positives and negatives from Arsenal's statement win over Aston Villa

Arsenal enacted revenge over Aston Villa as they recorded a statement 2-0 victory at Villa Park to maintain their perfect start to the season.

Aston Villa have so often caused heartache for Arsenal, but this time was different - as strikes from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey earned the Gunners a two-goal victory and a clean sheet.

The first half was an incredibly even contest, and the Villains almost took the lead after Gabriel Magalhaes was caught in possession, but Ollie Watkins failed to convert into a near-empty net.

David Raya produced a world-class save at the start of the second half to again deny Watkins from close range - keeping the Gunners in the game.

His heroics in goal paid dividends as, in the 67th minute, substitute Leandro Trossard opened the scoring with a curling effort after Bukayo Saka's cross took a deflection to find him.

Just 10 minutes later, Thomas Partey doubled the visitors' advantage with an effort from outside the box - with Emiliano Martinez's hand not enough to deny his former side of their lead.

Mikel Arteta's side saw out the 2-0 win, making it two wins and two clean sheets in their opening two Premier League games of the season but, among the overwhelming positives, there were some negatives for Arsenal to contend with.

With that said, here are three positives and negatives from Arsenal's statement win over Aston Villa.

Positive #1: Jurrien Timber returns... again

It was a sight to behold for Arsenal fans as Jurrien Timber made his first competitive start for the club in over a year, having suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in the opening game of the 2023/24 season.

The Dutch defender impressed with his performance, offering more defensive stability than fans have seen offered by Oleksandr Zinchenko in the last several months - including last season.

Toward the tail end of pre-season, there had been fears that he had suffered a fresh knock, which made his return all the more hotly anticipated by fans.

Along with Riccardo Calafiori, Timber and Zinchenko will now provide Arteta with more options to tactically adapt to each opponent, giving them the unpredictability that the ever-dominant Manchester City has so often utilised.

Negative #1: Gabriel Jesus suffers new injury

Gabriel Jesus was missing from the Gunners' win, after news broke that the Brazilian had picked up a groin injury - a blow to his hopes of a redemption season.

The Brazilian has endured a torrid time since his arrival in North London, with a mixture of injuries and poor form seeing him reduced to a bit-part player for the Gunners, and falling out of the Brazilian national team set-up.

With Eddie Nketiah nearing a move to Nottingham Forest, Arsenal now look to have a serious depth issue up front - which could see the club dip into the transfer market before the deadline next Friday.

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