Arsenal begin their 2013/14 English Premier League campaign by hosting Aston Villa at the Emirates tonight. We’ll have live scores and commentary from midnight.
Gonzalo Higuain. Wayne Rooney. Luis Suarez. Luis Gustavo.
None of these players will be lining up for Arsene Wenger’s Gunners outfit tonight.
All were mentioned as potential transfer targets, with Wenger reportedly ready to loosen the purse strings and land a player of genuine world-class quality.
Yet here we are in late August, and the only arrival at the Emirates has been Yaya Sanogo on a free transfer from Ligue 2 side Auxerre.
Arsenal have gone through a seven-match preseason campaign with five wins, a draw and a loss with the two blemishes coming courtesy of Napoli (2-2) and Galatasaray (1-2) in Arsenal’s own Emirates Cup.
They’ll be missing Mikel Arteta, who has been ruled out for 4-6 weeks with a thigh injury, while Thomas Vermaelen and Nacho Monreal will also be watching from the sidelines.
For Villa, Yacouba Sylla and Chris Herd will be unavailable but manager Paul Lambert will otherwise have a full squad to choose from.
It’s fair to say Villa haven’t had the most inspiring of pre-season campaigns. They drew their first four encounters before losing 2-0 to Luton, then coasted past the likes of Walsall, Crewe Alexandria and Shamrock Rovers, before losing 3-2 to Malaga last weekend.
The good news is that target man Christian Benteke, who recently signed a four-year extension to stay at Villa Park, has been scoring during the pre-season.
Should Benteke stay fit, we should be seeing a 20-goal season from the Belgian.
If Wenger’s defensive pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker are slow to begin then Benteke could be the one to take advantage.
Prediction: 1-1
Brent Ford
Roar Guru
Looks like Arsenal are falling apart. As a Tottenham supporter I love this, waking up after falling asleep after the Giroud goal was all the more sweeter. Villa are heavily underrated I think. Benteke in my opinion is world class and it is sad Tottenham couldn't have gotten him.
Zee
Roar Guru
New Season , Same thrill. Well deserved by Villa, Guzan is a gun yet smart GK, Benteke & Luna looked lively, Arsenal problems there. Great Match
Chad Bennett
Editor
Anyway, that will be all for tonight. Very interesting there, pretty decent performance from Villa actually. Think there will be plenty of fallout with Wenger and the home side, but we will see.
Chad Bennett
Editor
Elswhere: Norwich 2 - 2 Everton Sunderland 0 - 1 Fulham West Bromwich Albion 0 - 1 Southampton West Ham 2 - 0 Cardiff
Chad Bennett
Editor
FULL TIME: Arsenal 1-3 Aston Villa Well, well, well. Pretty toxic atmosphere at the Emirates in the end as Arsenal through away an early lead. Two penalties to Benteke put Villa in front, and then Arsenal's chances of a comeback took a turn for the worse when Laurent Koscielny was sent off for his second yellow card. Antonio Luna then made it 3-1 from a sweeping counter, and the boos the began to ring out as the vitriol swtiched from the referee to Arsene Wenger.
Chad Bennett
Editor
90 + 2′ Arsenal 1-3 Aston Villa Again, Villa break quickly and this time through Bacuna, who had come on for Weimann. Podolski has come onto replace Sagna for the final minute or so.
Chad Bennett
Editor
90′ Arsenal 1-3 Aston Villa Very, very flat atmosphere here now. There will be three minutes of injury time. Played is again stopped, with Sagna again receiving treatment after a fairly heacy fall. Camera panning to to rows and rows of empty seats, and a stream of fans walking out. Dear oh dear.
Chad Bennett
Editor
87′ Arsenal 1-3 Aston Villa Ugly scenes here at the Emirates. Chants of 'You don't know what you're doing' have rung out, banners have been unfurled in Wenger's and half of the stadium has left. Brutal opening day here for Arsenal, and really intensifies the pressure on Wenger after next to no signings.
Chad Bennett
Editor
Arsenal's defence has been diabolical all afternoon, and Luna this time is allowed to stroll into the area, send Szczesny the wrong way, and finish for Aston Villa's third. Villa will be taking all three points back to Birmingham!
Chad Bennett
Editor
85' Arsenal 1-3 Aston Villa VILLA GOAL!!
Chad Bennett
Editor
82' Arsenal 1-2 Aston Villa Giroud plays a ball into the path of Wilshere, who appears to get some contact before going down, and the Emirates bay for a penalty...but it falls on deaf ears. Probably playing for it a bit there, is Jack. Ramsey then tries his luck from about 20 out, a low effort that Guzan easily collects. Arsenal definitely look like they will create chances in the final ten.
Chad Bennett
Editor
80' Arsenal 1-2 Aston Villa Lovely ball plays Benteke into the area, he takes a steadying touch and hits a shot across Szczesny toward the near post, but it rolls ver narrowly wide.
Chad Bennett
Editor
78' Arsenal 1-2 Aston Villa Cazorla now into the book for a fairly ordinary lunging challenge of Delph, it appears to be. Been a busy afternoon for the referee, Anthony Taylor.
Chad Bennett
Editor
78' Arsenal 1-2 Aston Villa GUZAN AGAIN!! Arsenal again in behind into the area, Rosicky leaps and heads the ball into the path of Cazorla, who lets the ball sit and hits a bouncing volley that Guzan parries onto the crossbar! He's on fire at the moment, the American shot-stopper. But. Arsenal are coming. Going to be a siege for the last 15 if Villa keep sitting back.
Chad Bennett
Editor
74' Arsenal 1-2 Aston Villa Thought it odd that Rosicky started in front of Cazorla but Tomas has been top-notch so far. All that is missing is the finish, up until this point. Meanwhile, Cazorla really hasn't been able to work into this game since replacing Oxlade-Chamberlain at half-time.
Chad Bennett
Editor
71' Arsenal 1-2 Aston Villa BIG save from Brad Guzan. Another brilliant one-two played between Rosicky and Giroud around the area, Rosicky skips past two challenges and into the area, but Guzan is out immediately to smother the effort. Great keeping.
Chad Bennett
Editor
70' Arsenal 1-2 Aston Villa With just over 20 minutes remaining, interesting to see what Wenger does. Has already made two subs, possibly he may look to bring Podolski on late.
Chad Bennett
Editor
69' Arsenal 1-2 Aston Villa After another shall we say, tactical foul by Villa, Walcott has a free kick about 25 yards out. Dipping nicely, but a good couple of yards wide.
Chad Bennett
Editor
66' Arsenal 1-2 Aston Villa Koscielny SENT OFF! After being carded for the challenge that led to the penalty, which perhaps shouldn't have been given, the defender is now sent off for a lunge on Agbonlahor as he tried to skip past. Yep, same old Arsenal defence! Home side really up against it now, a goal and a man down. Still a good 25 minutes or so to go. But if Arsenal do go down, it will be the first time since losing to Coventry City 20 years ago at Highbury that they will have lost at home on the opening day of the season.
Chad Bennett
Editor
65' Arsenal 1-2 Aston Villa Well, after vociferously booing the penalty, the Emirates is somewhat stunned after seemingly were in control, and are now chasing the game.