You know how it is. You just get a feeling and that’s simply what I’ve got for this game.
It seems I’m not alone either, as having read around it seems quite a few Villa fans agree; Arsenal look very vulnerable at the back, with even Watford, who have had a poor start, coming back against them.
I’ve got a £5 bet on with an Arsenal supporting workmate of mine. I don’t like betting, especially with workmates, so I kept it small. It was his suggestion and he even gave me the draw, so I couldn’t resist.
The same chap is very confident about their attack and midfield, but when I asked him about their defence he went very quiet.
To which I offered that we simply aren’t clicking up front, so he might not have to worry too much.
And this is where I find this game interesting.
You’d suspect Arsenal have the quality to breach our defence, but do we have enough to breach theirs?
I have to be honest and say I doubt it, or certainly not more than once, if we keep Wesley so isolated.
We quite simply have to get either McGinn or Grealish further forward to bring Wesley into the game more
Either would make sense, as although Grealish is obviously the better creater, it’s McGinn who has looked our most likely player to score over the last few games, because he actually has that shot and ability to get in where it hurts the opposition.
Given that McGinn has by far the better engine to get back, it has to be Grealish who moves forward, in my opinion.
I’ve been busy at work, so have only scanned the headlines, which suggest that Dean Smith isn’t going to change formation, but has hinted that Wesley is too remote.
At least it seems that Smith knows the problem and that’s a good thing.
I still think we need to get Grealish in the hole mostly, but he could swap out with Jota or El Ghazi, to mix it up and try and confuse their dodgy defence.
Either way, playing too deep will only play into Arsenal’s hands.
There’s a strange, to my mind, stat that’s been thrown out there, where Arsenal have conceded the most shots aginst them, in the whole of Europe.
To which I say, “who cares? have they conceded the most goals?”
I think West Ham had one shot against us on target, but they still got a point.
It’s a meaningless stat, but it does suggest we should get plenty of chances.
We just need to take them and that’s frankly not looking likely if nothing changes.
Dean Smith needs to work out how we can get Wesley into the game more.
It’s easy to slate the striker, but he’s getting very few touches and is hardly getting chance to hone his game in a new league.
Which is where I find it strange that Wesley is getting so much stick for not looking good enough.
Or is it more that it’s not actually Villa fans that have concerns about him, but other football sites?
I’m quite happy to give Wesley a few months more yet, before I totally condemn him as not good enough.
Squad news is that we have a fully fit squad, Kodjia apart and even he’s lightly training.
I can’t be arsed to see how Arsenal stand.
My prediction?
It all depends on if we get Wesley into the game or not, as I think he could easily make their defence suffer.
If we do, it’s a 2-1 win and Wesley gets one.
If not, it’s a 1-0 loss.
I’d take the draw, as that would be a really good result.