On Saturday night, when the Gunners travel to take on Unai Emery’s Aston Villa in the Premier League, managers from the past and present of Arsenal square off in the West Midlands.
After one game, the Lions defeated West Ham United 2-1, and Mikel Arteta’s group defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers with two goals in a row. Both teams have three points.
Jhon Duran teased a move to West Ham on social media before the deal ultimately fell through, so if the Colombian striker had his wish earlier in the transfer window, he would be wearing a different shade of claret than the one he wears now.
Amadou Onana’s initial goal was cancelled out by a Lucas Paqueta penalty last weekend at the London Stadium, where Duran spent an hour watching. After Emery’s team missed a couple chances to get back in the game, Duran duly drove the final nail in the Hammers’ coffin eleven minutes from time.
The young striker ended the Lions’ four-match losing streak in the Premier League by pointing at the London Stadium turf in front of the Villa supporters during his winner celebration. This gesture probably indicated that he intended to stick with Emery’s team rather than stay at West Ham’s pitch.
The Lions are about to begin a Premier League season with back-to-back victories for just the fourth time, but Villa should have defeated Julen Lopetegui’s team without the South American’s last-minute intervention based on the quantity of opportunities they generated.
After winning an incredible 15 Premier League games in a succession at home in 2023, Emery’s team has since lost their consistency at home in terms of wins, but not goals, as they have scored two goals or more in their previous eight games at Villa Park.
When it comes to teams scoring more than once in front of their own supporters, Arsenal’s opening match of 2024–25 took place against Wolves, who they had previously defeated 33 times in a row before Kai Havertz’s header from Bukayo Saka made it 34.
Though Arteta’s team first failed to capitalize on the narrow lead, allowing Gary O’Neil’s team to re-enter the game, the old Arsenal looked to be back for a brief while. However, in the second half, Havertz and Saka connected again, with the latter beating Jose Sa at his near post.
Even though some of Arteta’s players could still be getting over their summertime hangover, Arsenal has and will continue to roll to more convincing victories than those from last weekend. Additionally, by holding Wolves at bay, they have extended their winning streak in the Premier League to an impressive seven games.
In their nine away Premier League games in 2024, Arsenal, who also hold the title of “away-day specialists” in the league, have amassed an incredible 25 points out of a possible 27, preserving seven clean sheets and conceding just three goals overall.
Nevertheless, Emery, the former manager of the Gunners, has the visitors covered in more ways than one since Villa were the only team to accomplish a Premier League double over Arsenal the previous season, winning 1-0 at home before an unexpected 2-0 victory at the Emirates.
