Well, I can hardly let that go by without commenting, can I?
What to say?
We played well and never stopped working probably sums things up, but I think it was the way we approached things in midfield that won this for us.
Unai Emery had obviously done loads of pre-work for this game. He quite rightly to my mind, dropped Guessand for Tielemans and swapped out Maatsen for Digne, which surprised me, as I thought Digne would be the better bet against an ever lively and tricky Bacary Saka. It says it all when I thought Saka never really got as involved as I would have expected. Likewise, Matty Cash on the other side was also very good and looked like he had run himself into the ground before he went off.
Given that I don’t normally rate either player, I think it should be taken that that’s a massive compliment on my part.
Back to the midfield and to a man, I thought they were great. They worked with tenacity and never gave Arsenal a chance with the way they hunted the Gunners down and teamed up against them.
Mind, you, you could say the same about their mids too, in fairness and you could say that there wasn’t much of a gap in it. Even Ally McCoist agreed with me in saying that Villa edged the first half.
And then there was the defence, where Pau really seems to be coming into his own. It has to be asked if we’ve missed Mings and simply, we haven’t in my opinion. Not in the slightest.
So we went into half time one up and as I said, I thought we were worth it.
The second half was different. At least at first, as we never got going at all and a goal against looked to be imminently incoming. And so it was, where Emi Martinez, who otherwise proved to be very competent today was beaten by Trossard, who had been subbed on by Arteta. to make it 1-1. You could just see it coming.
We didn’t let our heads drop though and the game continued with the same, mostly frantic pace.
Two top quality teams, both in very good form and it was intriguing as to which way things were going to go, albeit nail-biting at the same time.
Subs aplenty were made on both sides, mostly to relieve tired legs, because nobody had played badly.
And while we had a great chance, with a ball played straight across the face their goal, there was noone availble for the tap in. They also had a similar chance, but again, it wasn’t to be.
And then, as things looked to be drawing to a not unfair 1-1 result on either side, I think it was Sancho who crossed in from the left to lead to a bit of skittles in the box. The outcome was Emi Buendia, who himself had only been put on as a last throw of the dice in the 85th minute, was on the floor, got up sharply and beautifully hit a rising shot that beat two defenders and the goalie.
The crowd erupted and then shortly after, the whistle blew to make it another great victory. 2-1 to the Villa!
What a great game and coming so closely after the Brighton comeback, what a great week it’s been.
I think the comms said we have won nine of the last ten games. Something we haven’t done in a HUNDRED years!
We really are setting records under Emery. I feel embarrased at the moment for ever doubting him, albeit never calling for his head.
We’ve beaten City and now Arsenal, which begs the question: Are we title challengers?
I said in the previous thread that I’m a pragmatic/scientific type thinker. And that tells me that without a doubt we are.
I pretty much expect a not so good rest of this month, as we still have some very tough games, but this is one we could easily have lost on paper and even if we do, it might prove to be our poor run. All teams get them, although you could say we had ours at the beginning of the season, but whatever, a poor December run might prove to be good timing if it leaves us going well for the rest of the season.
A title push would be great, but for me the aim is the Champions League and back with the big boys.
I’ve got a smile on my face.
UTV!
One very happy bunny here 🙂
Good post Badger.
Neutrals might say 1-1 would have been fair and it would be hard to argue against that – unless you’re a Villa Fan of course!
Like you, I had my doubts after the first five games – whether the players had tuned out from Emery’s unremitting demand for team plans and perfection. What has followed relegates that idea to the dust bin!
There was a comment (on BBC I think) that when things are not going right Villa players look across to Emery and have confidence that he will tweak things to sort it out. Clearly they haven’t tuned out, quite the opposite.
It’s a little scary what this team / squad can actually achieve and shows that just throwing money at transfers doesn’t, necessarily, bring success.
UTMV
If you look at the stats it was a very even game – that supports the view watching the game.
My point is, that if you look at the stats of many of Villa’s recent games they are pretty even, some slightly favouring the opposition, but we are winning these games.
Imho that is what makes the difference between a good side and one that is truly a top 4 contender.
I’ve been watching a replay of todays game and it confirms what I thought when watching live (well it would, it was a replay). Today I have seen probably some of the best close passing phases that I can recall from any Villa side. I think Arsenal managed to contain most of them but what I noticed was the price they paid for their efforts. In the last 10 mins of the game their back four were out on their legs and we were just raring to go for another 30 minutes.. Two seasons ago we couldn’t manage 2 games in a week, now we seem to relish it.
Just seen mod on bbc and it looked completely different to match i was watching live.
It looked like arsenal battered us and we was lucky to win.
What a rip off. And they say camera never lies typical London and Manchester lovers.
And not even first on what a disgrace
Anyway we villa fans know the truth don’t we utv
2 right Roy..its like when i put sky sports news on in the early hours of sunday morning(2am)they was talking about bloody mo salah&Liverpool for about 10 minutes & didn’t even mention villa beating arsenal.. Had arsenal beat villa u can bet your bottom dollar it would have been first up even before the boring salah saga..!!
Still absolutely high as a kite this morning. Yeah, the MOTD edit was obviously going to be in Arsenal’s favour. Danny Murphy was full of begrudging praise for us though.
What an incredible finish!!!!!
The squad need a serious rest between now and Thursday. Lots of sleep!!! We could also do with a spare centre back in the window. Pau and Konsa can’t do this all season long.
Thinkng long term, if Ezri goes to the WC, will he come back to us fkd like Ollie did after the Euros? We may need to source seriously in that position too.
Watched MoTD this morning having read the comments on here.
Maybe that steeled me to be unhappy but I thought the edit was reasonable – after all the game was close run – and didn’t favour Arse to an unacceptable degree.
Actually thought Danny Murphy was full of praise for Villa and down played Arsenals injuries. He does have a rather dead pan delivery.
On to Basel and another big test – they don’t stop coming; it’s manic. The players must be feeling it because I am as a fan!
UTMV
Well, at it again: up at 5-30 am, tele on catch-up, match of the day, then the game. Like you, bum, bum, high as a kite over the game we saw yesterday, plus the fact that all my grandkids’ Daughter and her husband are Villa mad fans. I did something right with my life building the fan club of Villa fans. Wife just came downstairs and said You’re not watching it again? Well, you have too I might have dreamt it just making sure, 😇 Martin Keown explained as to why Villa had a bad start by saying financial problems at the start of our season and Unia did a wonderful job changing the fact that we were not scoring goals. I spoke to my next-door neighbour and told him if he wants me to get him some forms to be a Villa fan rather than a West Ham fan I got the one finger salute only being friendly 😂.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Top job Bill with the family.
Like you our three kids are all Villa fans as are the grandkids so must be doing something right!
Yesterday watched the game with my daughter and I confess there was a lot of shouting, leaping and running around – like lunatics – when Buendia scored. There’s no feeling like it so keep re-watching that final goal – even the AVTV commentator lost it – repeatedly screaming ‘it’s in, it’s in’. Brilliant; made me smile.
Think I might go and watch it again as the wife’s out 🙂
Hitch that’s my daughter she’s bonkers when we score, the cockerpoo goes crackers, she screams so does the dog. I have to tell the too carm down 😂💦
What I did notice watching MOTD was that the highlights made it look like Arsenal were unlucky. However, when Murphy and Dion did their post match analysis, they showed a number of good Villa chances that weren’t covered in the highlights. I don’t think that shows a fair assessment of the game because a lot of neutrals will fast forward past the waffle thinking we were lucky.
The media still don’t think Villa are title contenders even though Chelsea were before we overtook them. I’m happy to carry on under the radar. Let them big up their favourites and put the pressure on them.
What a week! Lovely to see that Ollie’s got his mojo back and that Malen can’t stop scoring. However, it was two players who many thought might be on their way out, Cash and Buendia, who won the game for us against Arsenal.
And are there a better set of midfielders than Kamara, Onana, Tielemans and McGinn in the Prem? I don’t think so.
‘It’s McGinning to look a lot like Christmas…’
Love it – do I hear a new festive song being composed for Super John?
Spurs in fa cup lol
Bloody hell, I forgot about the draw. Spurs vs Villa.
Sigh.
Fuckin spuds away could of been a lot kinder shit draw that
Yep, back to our normal FA Cup draws!
Don’t think Unai will prioritise the FA Cup – EPL and Europa League will be his focus and, no doubt, he’ll not be unhappy if we don’t have to squeeze FA Cup games into the schedule as well.
Not saying he won’t put out a decent side but it won’t be the full on first XI
I thought the same, until I recalled our shocking record of going out against teams we should batter.
I’m fine with it.
And even if we do get knocked out, it’s one distraction less in the chase for CL, in my mind.
As much as I love the cups, we have bigger fish to fry.
Batter – Fry, gerrit?
Cor dear, I’ve had better audiences 🙂
🙂 Ho, Ho Badger – nice one!
Leaving for Gatwick in about half an hour… some party Basel is going to be after the week we’ve just had!
Nice! I hope we get the win to justify it.
Yeah, just on the motorway now. About an hour and twenty-one minutes away. Hoping for a win too, if we don’t win we actually need to realise our Europa League run is in jeopardy. I can’t afford play-offs!
Basel is nice. Basel stickers, Basel flags everywhere. The house opposite our apartment is covered in Basel flags. I’m thinking they may have done it because they know opposition fans may stay there, to intimidate them. But to be honest, I like it! Can’t wait to do my article (I’ll do it quicker this time so it reaches more people)
At last a reputable organisation has challenged Infantino’s dictatorial behaviour and FIFA’s absurd ethics committee.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c04vq6ldv6lo
All I can say is that Infantino and Trump deserve each other!
I suppose if you are born into the Infantino family you are expected to behave like a spoilt kid.
Down here in West Surrey – where kids were given a Manure shirt to celebrate being potty-trained – the Red Devils are in danger of losing a generation of spoilt brats. The not-so-serious sports outfitters have their shop windows for baffled grandparents and aunts filled with Arsenal shirts in all their hideous variants.
Times can change. This year in the charity shop round the corner there are Manure shirts on the bargain rack for £5. Sic transit gloria mundi.
It seems Guessands poor form at Villa has impacted his World Cup chances as only named as a reserve for the Ivory Coast squad.
He’s the only Villa player impacted (or now possibly impacted) by the AFCON Trophy.
Apparently we’ve signed highly rated 19yo Brazilian right winger Alysson for £10.5 mill.
https://www.astonvillanews.co.uk/2025/12/10/exclusive-aston-villa-seal-alysson-signing-excellent-piece-of-business/
Makes sense
There are reports that Villa have agreed a deal to sign 19year old Brazilian right winger Alysson for around €10m. Apparently he’s very highly rated – we’ll see.
Other reports suggest Roma want to ditch Bailey loan in January (injury prone and poor form) but he can play for another club (hasn’t played for Villa this season) – if they can find one to have him! Asensio has scored five goals for Fenerbahce who, it appears, paid less than €10m for him – why did we spend all that cash on Guessand – even with Asensio’s wages it would – imho – have been a far better deal.
And on Guessand – rumours that Emery has all but had enough of him and he could be out the door in January. – along with Elliott.
Tough old world football – no room for sentiment!
Tail piece for Alfie – it seems Basel have not lost an Europa home game since 2015 – you need to work your magic Thursday.
More reports confirming we have agreed a deal for Alysson and he’s travelling to the UK. €10m plus €2.5m in performance bonuses.
Villa will pay €4m upfront but this doesn’t affect the amortisation of the fee – 5 year contract would be €2.5m annually.
UTV
Interesting comments by Emery about Elliott basically confirming that Villa don’t want to be committed to signing him on a permanent contract.
Villa are apparently in discussion with the player and Liverpool to find a solution.
Either he goes back to Liverpool or Villa come to an agreement with Liverpool about amending the terms of the loan to a pure loan with no obligation to buy – my guess is the latter would probably involve a financial compensation of some type payable by Villa.
From what Emery’s reported as saying, I think he would be happy take Elliott on a pure loan basis.
See above – BBC article below
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c246llv9pelo
Which tells me we’re either totally skint or have serious signings lined up in January.
I really hope we’re not trying to stitch Pool up and we have a genuine reason for doing this.
I’m incredibly proud of the fact that we’re a club that does business in a fair and proper way and would hate to lose that reputation
I agree Badger that Villa need to be very focused in transfers as they continue to be squeezed by PSR and SCR this season.
Unfortunately (or fortunately – I suppose it depends on one’s point of view), if Villa qualify for Europe next season they will not be able to take advantage of the less severe EPL SCR rules but will be governed by EUFA SCR limits.
The annoying aspect continues to be that, in the real world, the club are far from being skint but in the abstract, myopic world of football we are not permitted to invest the wealth that underpins the financial stability of the club.
Fortunately, we appear to have owners who have a long game strategy of correcting that situation in which Emery is key.
Bottom line is nobody, none us us, expected Buendia to sky rocket! This return to form has saved us at least £35m!!!
Whether we can or can’t spend on transfers should be known soon. UEFAs SCR rules run January 1st to December 31st. This means a chunk of Champions League money we obtained last season will count now. Further, as far as UEFA are concerned Jan 1st is a new financial year, so technically this is where we could make new signings. The change in Premier PSR rules mean we will have increased flexibility.
I’ve no problem if Emery wants to not buy Elliott and save £35m. For next season, Villa need a new striker. Either sell Watkins and use the Elliott saving to buy a new striker. Or sell another player and add this to Elliott saving.
A potential problem looks to be Bailey. Looks like the option to buy him won’t be taken up and he will take up £100-120k wages. He has to be sold. A think a lot of our option will be impacted upon our ability to shift him.
Hi Sid,
Not sure on EUFA rules but the EPL rules run over a season so the change to SCR won’t happen until the start of the 26 / 27 season.
Whilst the SCR change in the EPL will, initially, ease the financial regulations unfortunately teams playing in Europe can’t benefit from them as EUFA’ s SCR regs are more stringent.
As I understand it the new SCR in England will be gradually phased to align with EUFA’s.
So, in a nutshell, ultimately, having more cash for the transfer market can only be secured by either substantially increasing revenue or selling players like John Duran for substantial profits – so expect more deals like the one for Alysson.
Bizot; Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Digne; Bogarde, Onana; Guessand, Buendia, Sancho; Malen
Subs: Oakley, Wright, Maatsen, Garcia, Hemmings, McGinn, Kamara, Tielemans, Rogers, Watkins
Basel have gone full strength.