Arsenal show resilience
Not for the first time this season Arsenal found themselves in a position where they weren't certain of winning a game they had utterly dominated going into its closing stages. On the night the Gunners outscored Aston Villa in terms of xG by 2.96 to 0.36 - for reference Manchester City, who beat Nottingham Forest 6-0 on the same evening - only managed 2.91 to 0.66.
However, as Douglas Luiz's corner looped into Aaron Ramsdale's goal in the 74th minute, Mikel Arteta's side faced the very real prospect of not claiming all three points for the first time this season. Previous sides have wilted under the weight of such pressure, and such collapses have taken weeks to recover from. This vintage needed just 151 seconds to bounce back as Gabriel Martinelli fired home the winner.
From the four goals they've conceded this season, Arsenal have hit back one, two, three and eight minutes later to show that the inability to respond to adversity that plagued them last season, is seemingly a thing of the past. Speaking after the game Arteta highlighted his team's growing experience as the key factor in this turnaround.
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"That’s the mentality we want to show as a team and the character we want to show: to react immediately," he said when asked about another quick comeback. "The disappointment (of) conceding goals is part of the game, like giving the ball away or having a bad action. It’s about the next action, the next phase and again when you play in front of this crowd, that helps. The energy they generate is just amazing."
"Going through positive experiences and overcoming difficulties," he went on to add when asked what gave his players their strength. "It gives you the confidence that you can do it. That can be individually or as a team, and when you start to get that belief and create those moments, it’s not only us (players and staff) that believes, the crowd believes. When that connection happens, anything is possible."
The impressive mentality that Arsenal are showing is certainly helped by the bond they share with the fans that Arteta highlighted. Once again as the Gunners were down, the Emirates Stadium was right there to drag them back up. Still though the players deserve credit, and as they head into their toughest test of the season on Sunday, that never say die mentality could be crucial to claim another three points against Manchester United.
Sambi stars
The pre-match discourse was dominated by the injury crisis that seems to have very quickly hit the Arsenal midfield.
football.london was able to confirm that Mohamed Elneny suffered a hamstring injury during Arsenal's clash against Fulham that Mikel Arteta admitted had a far from positive early prognosis after the game. "That's not good news," the Spaniard told football.london when asked how long Elneny could be out for. "We still need to see another specialist, but I'm afraid that we're gonna lose Mo for a while."
This came on top of the news that Oleksandr Zinchenko was out with a knee sprain sustained before the Fulham game and yet another thigh strain for Thomas Partey, who Arteta revealed could be out for some time. "He's going to be out for a while," the Gunners boss said. "I don't know how long that period is going to be. It's not the first injury he had in that area, so the recovery is more for the doctors to put the timeline and see how he evolves."
This began to create a panic about what Arsenal should do in their No. 6 position. Suggestions were made that Ben White could move over from right back or that Granit Xhaka could have to drop from his more advanced position. However, in the all the furore it was forgotten that the Gunners do have another option at the base of the midfield.
Albert Sambi Lokonga may have struggled in crucial games against Brighton and Southampton last season as a lone six after his £15 million arrival from Anderlecht, but this does appear to have clouded people's memories of the early part of the season where the Belgian stepped up impeccably to cover Granit Xhaka's three month injury absence. The 22-year-old was given the nod to show what he could do in that position once more on Wednesday night and passed the test with flying colours.
Helped by the fact that Xhaka was slightly more withdrawn alongside him, Lokonga shone. His defensive capabilities were solid as he provided a platform for Arsenal to keep the pressure on, and in raising the level from Elneny he was able to provide some quick forward distribution that the Egyptian simply can't match.
While Lokonga has looked better as an eight in recent months, his versatility is something that is valued by people throughout the club. In a time of need the Belgian stepped up, and it will be fascinating to see if he gets the nod again on Sunday.
Injuries pile up
The injuries to Partey, Elneny and Zinchenko were well known before the game, but it does appear as though they are stacking up a bit for the Gunners.
Martin Odegaard looked to be in some pain and could be seen mouthing "it hurts" when asked by his teammates about the injury he sustained to his ankle following a tackle from John McGinn, whose performance could most generously be described as 'robust'. The Norway international was seen icing that ankle after being replaced by Emile Smith Rowe, but was able to get up and do a full lap of appreciation to the Emirates faithful following the game. Speaking in his post-match press conference, Arteta could not provide much more clarity.
"Yeah, he got a bad kick, as you could see, and he was struggling," the Spaniard said. He then went on to add that he was unsure if the Norwegian was a doubt for United on Sunday. "I don't know, he was struggling," he said. "It's very recent, so we will have to see how he recovers in the next few hours."
Odegaard has been instrumental in Arsenal's last three performances and the Gunners will be desperate to have him fit for the trip to Old Trafford. However, should he be unavailable they do at least have plenty of options with Smith Rowe most likely the next in line to start, while new signing Fabio Vieira can play the right eight role and Bukayo Saka can also drop in there if needs be.
It's a slightly different story, however, when it comes to the goalkeeping position. Aaron Ramsdale pulled up late in the game with what appeared to be a muscle problem and required treatment before being able to finish the match. Again Arteta was unable to say for certain what the severity of the problem was.
"I think he felt something," the Spaniard said. "I don't know exactly what it is, but he managed to finish the game. It's another one who we'll have to assess."
Arsenal do have summer signing Matt Turner as a back up to the England international, but considering he is yet to make a competitive appearance, Old Trafford would be a heck of a place to make your debut. Turner has become popular in the Gunners dressing room already, but they'll be hopeful on Ramsdale making a speedy recovery.
Deadline day madness
All the injuries going on at Arsenal do of course mean that the club's transfer priorities have shifted going into deadline day. It had appeared that the forward positions were where they were targeting additions after the departure of Nicolas Pepe on loan to Nice for the season. However, after the game Arteta did hint that the absences of Partey, Elneny and Zinchenko could force his side into the market late on.
"Obviously, it has an impact because Thomas is injured as well, and we're a bit short in that position," he said when asked if Elneny's absence would impact the transfer plans. "We have players like Sambi, we have players like Granit who can play there. The club has been super supportive to keep improving the squad and the team as we can, and if the right player is available and we can do it we will try."
Youri Tielemans is a name who has been linked all summer long in that position and football.london understands that the Belgian was a target. However, at time of writing there has still been no official bid and a deal looks unlikely.
It's a similar case for Danilo, who was another that the Gunners were interested in. However, with the move coming so late in the window Palmeiras seem unwilling to sell and football.london understands the deal could be revisited in January.
For now it seems the main target is Douglas Luiz of Aston Villa, with Arsenal working on a deal to secure the 24-year-old, who has one year left on his contract at Villa Park. Sources at Villa have told football.london that they do not intend to sell the Brazilian, but manager Steven Gerrard was willing to leave the door open when asked about it after the game.
"I am not in control of that. There are more than two people in control of that, and I am certainly not one of them," the under-pressured Gerrard said. "That will be Douglas, that will be his agent, that will be what happens. I would like to keep him, he is a fantastic player. I have made that abundantly clear.
"We are not in a position where we need to lose our top players, but at the same time, Douglas has got a year to go, and it is one of those really touchy situations where the club has to do what is best for the club, not necessarily what is best for me."
Villa are reportedly making a late move for Wolves' Leander Dendoncker despite their continuing to remain adamant that they will not sell Luiz. All in all it does appear that it's going to be a busy day at the Emirates to end the transfer window.
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