Love for Leno
It would have been easy for Bernd Leno to check out at this point. Up until Saturday lunchtime the German keeper had not started a game for Arsenal in the Premier League since August, and as a result was omitted from Hansi Flick's most recent national team squad. Regardless though, he was ready.
It's easy to forget just how important a player Leno was for the Gunners. As recently as the 2019/20 campaign he was a player of the season contender, and arguably kept Unai Emery in his job. When forced to make a decision between him and his counterpart in the opposite goal at Villa Park Emi Martinez, it was ultimately the former Bayer Leverkusen man who Mikel Arteta allowed to stay at the club.