Journalist Jordan Davies believes that Aston Villa boss Unai Emery will want to see one Arsenal star in the starting XI on Sunday.
Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery will return to the Emirates Stadium this weekend for a crucial Premier League showdown.
Both Arsenal and Aston Villa have a huge prize to fight for this season. Whilst the Gunners are currently leading the charge in the Premier League title race, the Midlands outfit are battling it out with Tottenham Hotspur for a top four finish.
The North London club will be heavy favourites heading into this fixture, and Mikel Arteta will see it as a must-win game. The data suggests that Arsenal face a tougher run-in than either Liverpool or Manchester City, and there is practically no room for error at this stage if they are to be crowned champions.
Aston Villa will pose a stern test. In the reverse fixture at Villa Park, back in December, the Gunners actually suffered a 1-0 defeat. Arteta will likely use that result as a means of motivating his team ahead of this match, sending his side out for revenge.
Is Jakub Kiwior a potential weak link for Arsenal v Aston Villa?
Emery’s men are likely to adopt a safety-first approach at the Emirates Stadium. They will sit deep and soak up pressure, knowing that in the likes of Leon Bailey, Morgan Rogers, Moussa Diaby, and Ollie Watkins they have players with enough pace to hit the hosts hard on the break if the opportunity arises.
Jordan Davies believes that there is a potential vulnerability in the Gunners’ back line that Emery will have already identified.
Speaking on The Arsenal Beat podcast, the reporter said, “they have pace in attack, they can sit back and properly counter Arsenal. They will have watched the Bayern Munich game, and seen that when Arsenal are slightly off it…there is space in behind. If anything, I think Emery will be wanting someone like Jakub Kiwior to start for Arsenal, just because of the lack of pace that he’s shown to have on the backpedal…Kiwior has played really well but had a really bad game against Bayern.”
How Mikel Arteta might change his Arsenal team to address Jakub Kiwior concern
Jakub Kiwior did struggle against Bayern Munich in the first-leg of the Champions League quarter-final clash with the German giants on Tuesday night.
The Poland international, filling in at left-back, struggled to cope with the pace and directness of Leroy Sane and was hooked by Arteta at half-time, with Oleksandr Zinchenko coming on in his place.
It could be that the Ukrainian is preferred to Kiwior from the start on Sunday. Though, Zinchenko has defensive frailties of his own. Alternatively, Arteta may view this game as an ideal opportunity to hand some much-needed minutes to Takehiro Tomiyasu.
However, the Japanese defender has not started a Premier League game for the Gunners yet this year due to injuries and international duty. His lack of match fitness and sharpness could therefore be an problem.
This issue also speaks to a wider problem Arsenal have at left-back that needs to be addressed in the summer transfer window.