Arsenal vs Aston Villa / Aston Villa vs Arsenal

Aston Villa vs Arsenal

• 12.30pm Saturday, 6 February, 2021
  Villa Park
  BT Sport
• Referee: Chris Kavanagh
• Line 1: Daniel Cook
• Line 2: Constantine Hatzidakis
• Fourth official: Darren England
• VAR: David Coote
• Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis

Source

Referee who sent off 2 Arsenal players in charge vs Aston Villa

Chris Kavanagh – Referee

Chris Kavanagh returns for his fifth Arsenal involvement with Arsenal this season in the Premier League, although you will also remember him from the FA Cup against Newcastle (picture above) when he sent off Emile Smith Rowe only to have to change his mind after a VAR review.

You might also remember him from last season when he sent Eddie Nketiah off against Leicester after initially giving him a yellow and then changing his mind after he got another go.

Kavanagh, a 35-year-old ref from Manchester, has been a regular fixture at Arsenal games over the last few seasons. Last campaign only Paul Tierney had more involvements with Arsenal in an official capacity than Kavanagh who took part 11 times (six as referee, two as fourth official and three as VAR).

This season he only has the four involvements so far but the game against Aston Villa will take him to five (all as referee).

Arsenal have won just one of those games, the opener against Fulham, and the Mancunian has flashed a total of nine yellows with three going to Arsenal and six to their opponents (22 Arsenal fouls v 27 opposition).

Kavanagh has not sent off a player nor given a penalty in any of his Arsenal games so far this season.

Daniel Cook and Constantine Hatzidakis – Line

Dan Cook and Constantine Hatzidakis have been involved in a total of six Arsenal games between them this season (three each).

Darren England –  Fourth official

This will only be Darren England’s second Arsenal involvement this season. His previous came as fourth official against West Ham which Arsenal won in the second game of the season.

David Coote VAR

This will be David Coote’s seventh involvement with Arsenal making him the official most likely to get an Arsenal match.

Given the fact that Arsenal have played just 22 games, Coote has been involved in a whopping 27% of games with that percentage rising to 30.4% with his inclusion against Aston Villa.

Three of his previous six appearances have come on VAR, making this his fourth time in charge of the TV. To put it another way, David Coote has been in charge of making Arsenal’s VAR decisions in almost 20% of their games.

Does that seem fair or right?

This was a point I made repeatedly last season. That sort of familiarity breeds contempt.

Coote, an official who Wikipedia doesn’t even have a date of birth, age estimate or place of birth for, was on VAR for Arsenal games against Fulham, Aston Villa (the home match we lost), and Burnley.

He’s from Nottingham and used to be “employed as Football Development Manager by Manchester CFA responsible for football and facility development across Greater Manchester, following extensive development experience,” according to his Linkedin profile.

Given he started his degree in 2000, we can assume he’s around 38 or 39.

He was fourth official for both debacles against Wolves this season.

A National List Referee since 2010, with major honours including refereeing the League 1 Play Off Final and FA Vase Final in 2014, Coote also lists three J League fixtures in Japan that same year as part of an exchange programme on his CV.

A full time Championship referee since 2016, he was then promoted to Premier League referees list in 2018.

Coote became a professional referee in July 2016 and is probably most well known for allowing Jordan Pickford to break Virgil van Dijk.

Sian Massey-Ellis Assistant VAR

Still awaiting her first match as referee despite being in the league longer than some of her male counterparts from this game who have all been promoted above her, Massey-Ellis is taking part in her sixth Arsenal game of the season (one as line 1, two as line 2, and three assistant VAR).

Massey-Ellis has been a professional for two years more than Coote. Kavanagh was handed his first Premier League matches three years after he first started in the Football League in 2014.

By that time, Massey-Ellis had been involved with Premier League matches since 2008 and was named as an assistant referee for the first time in 2010. She is still yet to be trusted as referee or VAR despite repeatedly proving her ability.

In fact, in 2020 Massey-Ellis, along with Kavanagh and Coote were named as the officials for the Uefa Youth League final.

She was the least senior of all three officials, taking the second assistant spot.

Ryan to start: How Arsenal could line up vs Aston Villa

After an incredibly frustrating defeat to Wolves, let’s have a look at the Arsenal team we predict Mikel Arteta to select to bounce back against Aston Villa.

The less said about the Wolves game, the better, but it’s fair to say the Arsenal squad will be feeling a sense of injustice. They now need to channel that into motivation to get a result away at Villa Park on Saturday.

One bit of good news going into this game is that Arsenal don’t have another for over a week afterwards. The next midweek is for FA Cup fixtures, so Arteta’s squad can rest up.

As a result, we’re not predicting a huge number of changes. Obviously, there are one or two required by the red-card suspensions for Bernd Leno and David Luiz, but here’s how we think Arsenal will line up overall.

Goalkeeper

We know this is one position where Arteta has to make a change. Bernd Leno picked up a one-match ban for his handball on Tuesday, and this is that one match.

The big question is whether Mat Ryan will be fit. If he is, you’d expect him to start, given the amount of Premier League experience he has compared to Runar Alex Runarsson. Otherwise, Runarsson will be making his first league start in England.

Right now, it looks like Ryan has passed his late fitness tests. Icelandic reporter Hjörvar Hafliðason, who seemingly has links to Inaki Cana and Runar Alex Runarsson, claims Ryan will start.

Defence

It’s hard to see many changes from the back four that finished the match against Wolves on Tuesday.

If Arteta sounded pessimistic on Ryan’s fitness, he was even more so on Kieran Tierney, admitting Tierney “wasn’t close at all” to playing in midweek. As a result, Cedric Soares should start.

David Luiz is out with his suspension, and Pablo Mari is only just returning from injury, so Gabriel Magalhaes is nailed on to start at left-centre-back. Rob Holding will probably keep his place on the right, with Hector Bellerin at right-back.

Midfield

One small positive consequence of the red cards against Wolves was that a couple of players came off earlier than expected. Thomas Partey was one of them, leaving the field to make way for Runarsson. As a result, he should be able to start this one too.

Granit Xhaka will surely start alongside him, as the pair are forming a good partnership at the base of Arsenal’s midfield.

It’s hard to call who will get the nod in front of them. For the time being, Arteta seems to be keen to continue giving Emile Smith Rowe chances if at all possible. Tuesday seemed like a chance to rotate with Martin Odegaard, but it didn’t happen.

After Smith Rowe was forced to complete the full 90 against Wolves for a team with nine men, after his recent injury problems, surely this time he has to rest.

Forwards

Like Partey, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe came off early against Wolves, with Lacazette making way for Gabriel at half-time and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang replacing Pepe.

You’d think that would mean both are available to start against Villa. It seems like Pepe is also a better fit than the alternatives on the left while Arsenal are playing a right-footed left-back, as they are at the moment.

Bukayo Saka has to start on the right, as he remains one of Arsenal’s main threats in attack. He was unlucky not to get a single goal from his explosive start on Tuesday.

That means Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Willian, and Gabriel Martinelli on the bench.

Arsenal Predicted Lineup vs Aston Villa

Emi Martinez: Aston Villa a step up from Arsenal for me

14 November 2020

Emi Martinez has reiterated that he believes Aston Villa are a step up from Arsenal in case we didn’t hear him the first time.

Emi Martinez likes to repeat himself.

Over the summer, after he had decided he needed to be guaranteed of the Arsenal number one shirt, he took every opportunity he came across to mention it. In the end, it was beyond tedious.

Then he left and joined Aston Villa, claiming that it was a step up in his career and here he is a few months on saying the same thing.

“When I decided to come to Villa it was because I trusted the manager’s ambitions, the club’s ambitions. I knew what a big club Villa is. People don’t realise how big it is,” Martinez told the Independent.

“They were all saying it was a step down in my career but I will always say it was a step up.

“We’re going to have a really good season … I’ve said since day one my ambition is to be in Europe with Villa,” Martinez said. “I want to take this club as high as possible and I think we’re on the right path. Do I think it can be done this season? Yes. We have to work for it.”

Speaking after he signed for Aston Villa, Martinez said, “I’m in the best shape of my career and when I didn’t have the security of that game time, I wasn’t sure about staying. I’m fighting to be Argentina’s number one, that’s my dream.

“Aston Villa is a massive club, I had no doubts over coming here. Everyone thinks it’s a step down going from Arsenal to Villa, but I actually think it’s a step up in my career.”

Are Arsenal fans being unfair to Bernd Leno?

Before picking up a knee injury at Brighton, many Arsenal fans were calling for a Bernd Leno statue, such was the German’s contribution last season, but Emi Martinez’s cameo showed just how fickle fans really are.

Emi Martinez was at Arsenal for 10 years but that was more luck than design. The club tried to sell him in the summer of 2019 and, after six loans, was seemingly headed for the door in the summer of 2020, too.

Then Leno’s knee crumpled when he was shoved by Neal Maupay in a game that would ultimately cost two Arsenal players their Arsenal careers.

Martinez stepped in and impressed, there is no doubt. He showed a form and level of concentration he had not managed in the previous decade. If he had, then the club wouldn’t have been trying to get rid of him.

Nine Premier League appearances and a run in the FA Cup to help Arsenal win the trophy was enough to convince Martinez that he could demand the club make him number one on a permanent basis.

Fans joined him.

There was no agreement to be found between player and club and Martinez was sold to Aston Villa where he has performed adequately. Stats show that he is overperforming while Leno is currently underperforming. As such, they are both of a level so far this season. You can see more on that below.

But every mistake Leno makes is greeted with cries from a large section of fans that we sold the wrong keeper.

How short their memories really are.

Make no mistake, there were times last season when we were talking, in all seriousness, that Bernd Leno was the only reason Arsenal weren’t in the relegation zone. Do you remember how bad we were until Unai Emery was sacked?

I mean, do you really remember?

Leno hasn’t made the greatest start to this season, for whatever reason, but given most Arsenal fans aren’t watching Aston Villa on a regular basis, claims Martinez is a better option are baseless. It’s recency bias in play.

At the time of his injury, Leno was number two in the list of goalkeepers with the most saves last season in the Premier League and second for punched clearances, and we all know what we saw with our own eyes. People weren’t calling for a statue for Leno just for a laugh (not that they are serious about him getting a statue). They also weren’t calling for Martinez to replace him.

This is what I wrote when Leno was first injured and we were having to turn to Martinez at a time when every point really did matter; “We now have to turn to a keeper who, at 27, should be hitting the best years of his life but has made just 26 first team appearances for Arsenal in 10 years.

“In fact, it has looked very much like the club were trying to replace him as number two given the number of keepers we’ve already been linked with.”

Nobody disagreed. In fact, people willingly joined me in what, thankfully, turned out to be unnecessary concern.

But the concern was, nonetheless, there.

How soon people forget…

Emi Martinez vs Bernd Leno was always going to be the big talking point as Martinez returned to the Emirates with Aston Villa, so how is he doing compared to Bernd Leno?

Every time Bernd Leno makes a mistake, Twitter is flooded with comments from Arsenal fans about how we should have kept Emi Martinez.

The Argentine, Twitter would have you believe, is better in just about every metric measuring a goalkeeper despite the fact he was an Arsenal player for 10 years before he looked good enough to be our number one.

So, let’s look at this season’s stats. There are some surprises for a few of you.

Emi Martinez vs Bernd Leno (up to 7 November 2020)

Stats via fbref.com

As you can see from those stats Martinez is slightly overperforming while Leno is underperforming and that keeps them pretty level.

One thing is clear, even given that, Leno is far better with the ball at his feet than Martinez, despite what the prevailing wisdom would have you believe.

Emi Martinez and Bernd Leno make Premier League Top 3

Arteta angry at attitude in Arsenal vs Aston Villa

Mikel Arteta said he will not accept the mindset he saw from his Arsenal players against Aston Villa as the Gunners collapsed to a 3-0 home defeat in the Premier League.

The defeat left Arsenal in 11th place with just 12 points from eight games and four defeats already suffered. To rub salt into our wounds, Thomas Partey also picked up an injury.

Once again, we find ourselves with a negative goal difference (-1), we’ve yet to hit double figures for goals scored in the league (9) but at least we’re further from the bottom of the table (11 points to Sheffield United) than we are to the top (six to Leicester).

Asked if this result was just ‘one of those things’ that happens, the Arsenal boss couldn’t have been clearer with his answer. “Not for big teams,” Arteta told Arsenal.com. “Big teams can’t afford that. We cannot afford that. You win a football match, two football matches, three.

“We expect to win every game and this is the standard that we have to set. So if someone believes that winning one or two games is good enough, they’re completely wrong and I’m not going to accept that.

It's actually six hours and 26 minutes since Arsenal last scored a goal from open play in the Premier League.
— Orbinho (@Orbinho) November 8, 2020

“I’m not going to accept that mindset at all and it’s obviously not what this club deserves. It’s my full responsibility and now I have to find a way to do it.

“I think that since I arrived here, it’s the first time that I’ve felt that we performed really under our standards and what we are trying to set at this football club. It’s unacceptable.

“I would like to have a game tomorrow morning to get this one out of the system. But as well, in difficult and bad moments, you get a lot of things. I want to see how people react, how players react and if we start to blame each other or if we just look at ourselves in the mirror and then try to become much better than what we’ve shown tonight, which we are.

“Then, after that, get everybody back together and get the fighting spirit, the belief and the commitment that we’ve shown since I got here, into every game.”

Speaking after the game, Arsenal fan and scorer of two of Villa’s goals, Ollie Watkins, said, “Most importantly we got the three points against a good side here. Unbelievable. We worked so hard.

“First half, from side to side. We know their game, they’re going to pass it and move it, we just had to cut off the lines into the midfield. I felt like we did that first half and second half it gave us the freedom to go and play.

“We’ve conceded quite a few goals the last couple of games, but it’s how we bounce back, and we’ve done that tonight. I’m loving it. Obviously there may be a bit of pressure. I’ve just got to get my head down, work hard, and that’s what I’m trying to do.

“Get goals, and thankfully it’s happening. I think there’s a lot to come [from us]. I think we’re very exciting and we can beat anyone.”

Arsenal vs Aston Villa (or Aston Villa vs Arsenal if you prefer) is a fixture that has been played since 1904 and it has returned more than it’s fair share of entertainment, but how did it all start?

Arsenal vs Aston Villa first took place on 8 October, 1904, in front of 32,000 spectators at the Manor Ground, Plumstead. The Gunners had only just been promoted to the First Division ahead of the start of the season and were still called Woolwich Arsenal.

Playing into the sun and against a strong wind in the first half, Arsenal really let fly in the second. “And then how much Woolwich Arsenal had been playing within themselves against the ill conditions was shown when they ‘let themselves go’,” The Morning Post wrote two days later.

“Woolwich in pace and skill outplayed Aston Villa in the last half house, and their zealous and high-spirited football was worth much more than the odd goal of the match. The victory was the triumph of the half-backs.

“Woolwich Arsenal have now thoroughly justified their promotion to the first degree of the League. They have not been beaten at home, and their success in two matches against strong sides have drawn from them that fine ability which their brilliant career in the Second Division made it almost obvious that they possessed.

“Aston Villa were criticised on Saturday as being something of a disappointment. But, after all, there is something in the dictum, that ‘a side generally plays as well as its opponent let it.’

“That the Arsenal football has ‘caught on’ tremendously in the London area was again proved by the immense attendance. And it is now time that the South-Eastern and Chatham Company should endeavour to make it possible to get to Plumstead on a Saturday with some slighter degree of discomfort than has been recently experienced. The congested state of the trains from Cannon-Street and London Bridge on Saturday afternoon was an appeal in itself to the officials of the company to move in the matter.”

The winning goal was scored 20 minutes into the first half, Tim Coleman chasing down the ball before shooting. The Villa keeper, George, came out but as the ball hit him it fell to William Henry Gooing who rolled it into an empty net.

Arsenal went on to finish their first season in the top flight in 10th place, 15 points behind League title winners, Newcastle. Villa finished fourth and there was no sign of Spurs, Chelsea, or Manchester United.

Arsenal have remained in the top flight ever since.