Aston Villa the thorn in Arsenal’s side that Arteta has to remove for title push | Aston Villa

It may be more than six years since Unai Emery left Arsenal but it’s hard to escape the feeling that the Spaniard still has an inexorable hold over his former club. Ever since Aston Villa ended a four-match losing streak against them with a 1-0 home win in December 2023, Emery has proved to be a thorn in Mikel Arteta’s side.

Villa’s 2-0 victory at the Emirates a few months later ultimately cost Arsenal the title as a relentless Manchester City took advantage by winning their last eight matches. Arsenal had an impressive 2-0 triumph in Birmingham at the start of last season, but Villa’s comeback from two goals down to draw 2-2 in January of this year was symptomatic of Arsenal’s failure to chase down Liverpool in the title race that never was.

So it will have come as no surprise to Arteta and the Arsenal supporters that it is Emery who has threatened to knock them off course again. The Spaniard, who was given only 18 months at the helm after being given the unenviable task of stepping into Arsène Wenger’s shoes in 2018, has always insisted that revenge is never on his mind when he comes face to face with his former employers. But as Villa proved in their last-ditch 2-1 victory over Arsenal a few weeks ago, they are now a formidable obstacle that will take some stopping.

For the meticulous Arteta, the challenge of overcoming a side that have just equalled a club record of 11 consecutive wins in all competitions is one that he will relish. To their credit, Arsenal have responded to their last defeat against Villa by recording five victories in succession – albeit none of them particularly convincingly. Four of their past six goals in all competitions have been own goals – as many as across their previous 182 goals combined – while the injuries have continued to mount up.

At least the influential Gabriel Magalhães, who returned as a substitute against Brighton on Saturday after a six-week layoff with a groin injury, could be back to bolster the defence. Declan Rice is expected to continue at right‑back if Jurriën Timber remains unavailable, while there are also doubts about Riccardo Calafiori. The nervous atmosphere that swept around the Emirates after Brighton pulled a goal back in a game that Arsenal had been in total control of is perhaps only natural at a club that have finished as runners-up for the past three seasons, even if Arteta described it as “a willingness to win”.

“We all want to win so badly,” he said. “Now I don’t want to lose what I have and we have to play to continue to score and show that composure and that ability and we should have scored the third one. We had two massive chances to put it to 3-1 and then it would have been different. We haven’t, so we have to suffer a little bit more.”

It is that inability to put games to bed in recent weeks that will concern him most, with Arsenal having dropped 21 points from winning positions last season. They have so far just about managed to avoid the same issue this time, even if an indication of their current problems is the fact that Viktor Gyökeres is their top scorer in the Premier League with only five goals, thanks to the £64m striker’s winning penalty against Everton on 20 December. Three others – Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Eberechi Eze – have scored four.

The imminent return of Kai Havertz and availability of Gabriel Jesus after a long-term injury should help to increase their productivity in attack. But there remains an overreliance on set pieces that will only be encouraged by Gabriel being welcomed back.

With Manchester City not in action until New Year’s Day against Sunderland, stopping a Villa side that have won nine successive games in the Premier League by a one-goal margin will be Arsenal’s last task of an ultimately disappointing 2025 that still looks likely to end with them top barring a very heavy defeat. But with Liverpool up next at the Emirates after a trip to Bournemouth before they travel to the Etihad Stadium in April to face City, Arteta knows 2026 could prove to be a defining year for him as Arsenal attempt to be crowned champions for the first time since the Invincibles under Wenger in 2004.

Arteta celebrated his sixth anniversary in charge before Christmas having succeeded Emery in 2019 and acknowledged that his future will be dependent on whether he can add to the FA Cup he won in his first season in charge. Gaining revenge over Emery – his fellow Basque – and Villa would be the perfect way not only to put the pressure back on City but also to underline they really mean business this time.