As anticipated, last weekend proved to be a lot quieter than that of the weekend before. No match attending football. No drinking sessions with Morecambe fans & Argyle players. No fun!
On Saturday though, its back to B6. Villa v Arsenal. This will be my first Villa match this March having missed the home win against Southampton and not being at either of Leeds 0 Villa 3 or West Ham 2 Villa 1.
So, what do I expect from The Gunners? We know that Arteta is a 'trust the process' manager so it'll be a massive shock if the system changes and despite the Arsenal boss complaining about the fixture schedule following his sides midweek defeat to Liverpool I don't think they'll be much change to his starting XI either.
From what I'm reading it looks like Tomiyasu won't be back from injury for this match, he has been left out of the current Japan squad and a return to Arsenal duties seems more likely to happen after the international break. The only area I see that Arteta can freshen things up in without significantly weakening his starting line up is the #10 position where he has the option of bringing in Emile Smith-Rowe to replace Martin Odegaard.
With regards to the boys in claret and blue, it's a little more tricky. We know that Lucas Digne will be sidelined following his early injury forced substitution against West Ham. Marvelous Nakamba gets another game closer to a highly anticipated return but wont be ready this side of the international break. What is unknown is the status of Douglas Luiz and Calum Chambers who will be desperate to hold off competition from Ezri Konsa to face his former employers.
Ashley Young will come in for Digne. He and Matty Cash will have a difficult afternoon contending with, for my eyes, Arsenal's main threats of Saka and Martinelli. McGinn and Ramsey are going to have to work incredibly hard to help double up on the Islington Reds wide men.
I hope and think Luiz makes the game and that'll mean the usual trio of Dougie, McGinn & Ramsey in midfeild. If Luiz does miss out I see McGinn being asked to operate as the 6 with Morgan Sanson coming into the side.
Ings and Watkins will continue up top with The Magician Phillipe Coutinho roaming behind. I see Watkins pulling out to the left even more than usual and I expect Gerrard to target Soares with Young, Ramsey, Coutinho and Watkins all operating in that area of the pitch.
With Buendia chomping at the bit for a return and the first signs of Leon Bailey becoming disgruntled at being on the bench starting to appear Villa have some good options and the pressure continues to be on Ings and Watkins to prove they can play as a pair.
Arsenal started well against Liverpool in midweek and they'll be looking for three points in their efforts to finish in the top 4 but as often with the gunners I don't believe the highs are as high as is made out just as the lows aren't as low. They are in a strong league position but my gut tells me that it won't be straight forward for them in the closing stages of the season and points will be dropped in matches their fans expect to win.
Despite Villa not being in danger of he drop and not competing for European football you know that Gerrard won't accept an 'on the beach' mentality to slip into the squad and his standards will need to be upheld for the remainder of the campaign.
I see this as a really open game with plenty of opportunities for the forward thinking players. Both back fours can anticipate having their work cut out with Martinez and Ramsdale both in for busy afternoons.
Prediction
Aston Villa 2
Arsenal 2
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