Winners and Losers: Aston Villa (h)

On Friday evening, Arsenal redeemed themselves after a disappointing draw at home to Crystal Palace. Once again playing at the Emirates, the Gunners ran out 3-1 victors against Aston Villa. Goals from Thomas Partey (still shocking, right?), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Emile Smith Rowe sealed the win against an opponent who historically has been a bit of a boogeyman for Mikel Arteta. It was a tremendous performance, and Arsenal are deserved winners today. Below are five more Winners, as well as three Losers from a great night in north London.

Winners

Thomas Partey

He finally scored! And of course, the goal was off his head. After putting up a relative stinker against Palace, Partey came back strong on Friday. With a proper partner in midfield, the man with the #5 shirt was his usual self. His usage during corners to flick the ball on from the near post proved effective. Interestingly, the Ghanaian never shot from further out than 8 yards from goal on Monday. If he intends to continue that way, he can take as many of those shots as he wants.

Alexandre Lacazette

Lacazette’s cameo on Monday rightfully earned him a start against Villa. And the Frenchman once more delivered. He added energy up top and was a good offensive pivot, combining particularly well with Aubameyang. He won the penalty that led to Arsenal’s second goal. Lacazette worked until his body could give no more, and Mikel Arteta could not be blamed for including him more often in the near future.

Albert Sambi Lokonga

When not asked to cover the space in behind the left-back and allowed to focus on more typical midfield duties, Sambi looked tremendous. He provided good support to Partey, but he also had a few moments of his own. The young Belgian displayed not only the ability to pull the strings from a deep-lying position, but also an aptitude for driving forward and making things happen himself. He also looked better at nicking back possession than he has previously. With Granit Xhaka out until 2022, Arsenal will need Sambi to be reliable. But fortunately, he looks to be fairly silky when in a midfield two.

Nuno Tavares

In his full debut, Tavares did the unthinkable and made Arsenal supporters forget about Kieran Tierney for a night. Off the ball, he pressed well and didn’t make any major mistakes as he kept his flank nice and tidy. But on the ball is where he caught the eye. Tavares’ explosive runs up the wing and dominating use of his robust physique made him a big threat for Villa. He got to the byline well, took some decent long-range shots, and delivered some great crosses into the opposition box. In particular was a chance he practically put on his grandmother’s fine china for Bukayo Saka, who disappointingly couldn’t convert. Tierney is still the starter without question, but Tavares has given us reason to believe that there may need to be a choice made in a few years’ time.

Emile Smith Rowe

He’s definitely worth more than £25 million now. Earlier in the week, Smith Rowe made headlines for the best reason: saying that if Arsenal would have them, he would stay at the club forever. Well, the feeling is likely mutual after his display against Villa. He finished the match with a goal and an assist to his name. Smith Rowe’s silkiness in transition play was on full display, and he combined well with Tavares down the left. The attack effectively went through him on the day. One of the best runners with the ball in the Premier League, the young Englishman is earning the #10 kit. He was Arsenal’s finest player on the pitch, and at the moment, probably Arsenal’s finest player, period.

Losers

Kieran Tierney

It wasn’t too long ago that supporters couldn’t imagine Arsenal without Tierney. But Tavares showed on Friday that perhaps the Scotsman isn’t as critical a piece as originally thought. Obviously, it’s very early to be having this discussion and Tavares needs to show much more before he can seriously threaten Tierney’s place. But Tierney’s negative play of late and his lack of durability have allowed for eyes to linger on the Portuguese defender, who greatly impressed on Friday. If Tavares is allowed to show he has the quality required, it could be bad news for the current starting left-back.

Mohamed Elneny

Elneny has barely featured this season, playing only 134 minutes in all competitions for Arsenal so far. On Friday, one thing became apparent among all the other significant develops of the night: the Egyptian might be last in the pecking order in Arsenal’s midfield. Partey and Xhaka obviously sit atop that depth chart, and Sambi is making a strong case to be the third choice in central midfield. When the Gunners sought to hold on to their lead against Villa, Ainsley Maitland-Niles came on to provide solidity in the middle of the park. Even Martin Odegaard was used as a quasi-partner for Partey in recent matches. But Arteta has to yet to turn to Elneny, choosing instead to rely on younger, more progressive players. With the Egyptian destined for up to a couple months of unavailability due to AFCON, odds are high that he is already surplus to requirements.

Playing without a midfield two

Without Xhaka to partner Partey in midfield, Arteta turned toward deploying a 4-3-3 instead of the typical 4-2-3-1. However, the use of that formation has proven unsuccessful so far. Although it does get Nicolas Pepe on the pitch, that for some reason comes at the expense of Saka playing on the left flank. While Smith Rowe and Odegaard both played centrally behind a threatening front three, it burdened Partey with protecting the base of midfield on his own. Recent matches exposed those flaws. Against Villa, Arteta went back to basics and rolled out the 4-2-3-1 again. And it worked. The formation provides the right balance of security in front of the back four and attacking prowess when Arsenal progress the ball forward. Perhaps one day, Arsenal can evolve into a 4-3-3 team. But that day won’t come for some time.

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