3 – Sambi looked sufficient
A tough test rested on this guy on Wednesday night but you could argue this is exactly the reason Arsenal paid £16m for 22-year-old last summer.
Following injury to Partey and Elneny, the Belgian was handed his first start of the season in front of an Emirates crowd that had big expectations.
All of the talk over the last 48 hours has been around the panic of signing a new central midfielder given the situation Arteta finds himself in.
But for what it’s worth, Sambi put in a performance that was worthy of proving his critics wrong, at least for now.
Sambi was partnered with Granit Xhaka and made 54 passes across 90 minutes, with a 92.6% completion rate, impressive against a consistently pressuring Villa team.
His five long balls allowed Arsenal to switch the play out to the dangerous wing partnership of Martinelli and Saka, allowing a massive threat to Villa’s already narrow setup.
Three interceptions and one clearance completed a tidy performance where he looked comfortable slotting in at last minute.