Arsenal to get early reminder of Aston Villa threat

LONDON: Arsenal will need no reminders of the threat posed by Aston Villa when they travel to the Midlands on Saturday for an early test of their Premier League title credentials.
It was a 2-0 defeat by Villa in north London in April that effectively cost Arsenal the title as late goals by Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins put the race in Manchester City’s hands.
Arsenal won their remaining six games but the damage was done and they finished two points behind City as Pep Guardiola’s side claimed a record-breaking fourth successive English crown.
While there is a possibility that City, if found guilty of the numerous financial charges levelled against them, could face punishment in the New Year, on the pitch they are likely to be as relentless as ever.
This means the margins for error for any club trying to loosen their grip on the Premier League crown are tiny.
Arsenal have certainly been making confident noises at the start of the new campaign, which they began with a 2-0 home victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
But a trip to Villa Park will offer a more accurate yardstick as to their early-season form.
Villa finished fourth last season under former Arsenal manager Unai Emery and are being tipped to back that up with another strong showing this season.
Before Villa and Arsenal kick off in Saturday’s late game, Manchester City hosts newly-promoted Ipswich Town whose long-awaited Premier League return was marked by a home defeat by Liverpool.
The weekend’s action begins on the south coast where Brighton and Hove Albion, who lead the new table after a 3-0 win at Everton last week, host Manchester United.
United’s 1-0 win over Fulham on the opening night of the season could be read one of two ways.
After finishing eighth in a torrid campaign last season, Erik ten Hag’s men badly needed a winning start as a sign that a new era off the field at Old Trafford will be accompanied by an improvement on the pitch.
The fact new signing Joshua Zirkzee came off the bench to score the winner helped raise belief United have sufficiently strengthened to at least threaten the top four with defenders Leny Yoro, Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt also arriving in the transfer window.
Yet, the ease with which Fulham created chances was eerily reminiscent of how United were consistently cut open last season.
Tottenham Hotspur, who are expected to be challenging the likes of Villa and United for a top-four berth, face Everton on Saturday with new big-money striker Dominic Solanke looking to make an impact after a quiet debut in the 1-1 draw at newly-promoted Leicester City on Monday.
Everton, who have managed one win in their last 23 Premier League games against Tottenham, need an instant response to their Brighton loss to banish the talk of yet another season-long battle at the wrong end of the table.
Liverpool’s new manager Arne Slot gets his home debut on Sunday with his side hosting Brentford while Chelsea’s new boss Enzo Maresca will seek his first league points with the Blues travelling to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Maresca’s task of trying to foster a team spirit from what City boss Pep Guardiola described as a “double squad” has been exposed this week.
Raheem Sterling has been added to the list of star names cut out from first-team training and had his squad number handed over to Pedro Neto after the England international’s representatives communicated his displeasure at being left out of the squad for last weekend’s 2-0 defeat to City.
The Blues squad has continued to grow in the week with Joao Felix joining on a permanent deal from Atletico Madrid after spending a short spell on loan at Stamford Bridge in the 2022/23 season.
Neto could also make his full Premier League debut against his former club after leaving Wolves in a 54 million move earlier this month.
Fixtures (all times GMT):
Saturday: Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester United (1130), Manchester City v Ipswich Town, Crystal Palace v West Ham United, Fulham v Leicester City, Southampton v Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur v Everton, Aston Villa v Arsenal (1630).
Sunday: Bournemouth v Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers v Chelsea (both 1300), Liverpool v Brentford (1530).
Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2024