The Arsenal loss to Aston Villa in the Premier League at Villa Park on Saturday, December 6, threw the title race wide open as the final results read: Aston Villa vs Arsenal 2-1.
With Manchester City later beating Sunderland, the gap between Arsenal and them reduced to two points.
Arsenal now have 33 points from 15 matches, while the Cityzens have 31. Aston Villa are also in the mix with 30 points in 15 matches, having won nine of their last 10 outings.
Arsenal Loss to Aston Villa Exposed Weaknesses of the Former
The Arsenal loss to Aston Villa was ensured by a late goal from the home side after the Gunners had equalised in the second half. The 1-2 defeat exposed some of Arsenal’s frailties. Firstly, the Gunners were overly reliant on their attacks through the right flank and inside-right channel.
Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Bukayo Saka and later, Martin Odegaard, combined to attack through the right and inside-right channels. It made their attacks very much predictable, as Villa were mostly on guard against them. Odegaard took a lot of shots at goal going through the inside-right channel, but they were predictable as well.
Secondly, Riccardo Calafiori’s frequent overlaps meant that the Italian left-back was not tracking back often enough. It seemed that he was making those overlapping runs to make up for the lack of attacks down the left. As a result, a lot of space was left open through the left side of Arsenal’s defence.
Aston Villa made use of it through their counter-attacks at times. Matty Cash’s opening goal was also scored from such a counter-attack that saw a diagonal cross played into the Aston Villa man on the right side of their attack.
Villa are undoubtedly a dangerous side at home, but the Arsenal loss was ensured by their common frailties. Had Ollie Watkins been able to find the target, the visitors would have faced a greater ignominy.
Mikel Arteta’s men have now collected only four points from their last three matches, which means that the title race has become a lot tighter now.
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Arsenal Will Have a Few Challenging Fixtures Coming Up
Arsenal’s next match is relatively easy, as they face the relegation-threatened Wolverhampton Wanderers at home. The Gunners should not have much difficulty winning that match.
However, they then face Everton away and Brighton & Hove Albion at home in their next two matches. Everton away is always a dangerous fixture for any team, especially now that the Toffees are playing well under David Moyes.
Everton are fifth on the Premier League table at the moment. Brighton are also in the top half and could prove to be quite a demanding opposition. The Gunners also have Champions League football to deal with in between.
In such a scenario, the pressure will firmly be on Arteta’s men to deliver. The season is almost halfway through and now is the time when the pressure starts to tell on the table-toppers.
The Aston Villa vs Arsenal game has confirmed that no team is unbeatable in Premier League football. Other teams will take from that and make life more difficult for the north Londoners.
Unless Arsenal rise above predictability, it will be difficult for them to win the whole thing. It remains to be seen whether Arteta’s men are able to do that.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / Paul Marriott
Recording Date: 06.12.2025
