THIS IS TOP 4 WAR

UNAI DERBY DAY IS HERE!

This is a huge day for all of us. We were there during the Emery days, we experienced what his football can be like, and the downside wasn’t acceptable, so he was moved on.

He’s found a home at Aston Villa. A great club, reignited by his ability to get the maximum out of a little and absorb whatever damage is thrown his way. The job he’s doing there is, I’m sheepish to say, world-class beyond doubt.

Villa have been hamstrung by PSR in a similar way to Newcastle. They haven’t been able to reach their full potential because they’re in that weird trap of not having the revenue to blow into the next level of Premier League superstardom, but Emery hasn’t let that bother him. He’s worked with Monchi, and now Roberto Olabe, to get the right players in, and now they are smashing everyone to pieces in a very unconventional fashion.

Emery is an xG menace. He gets players to reach heights they struggle with when they move, and his kamikaze approach to everything, on a good day, can cause monster upsets. It’s usually not sustainable to do it over a season, but right now, he’s in the mood to be considered a title contender because if you’re in a top-of-the-table battle at the end of December, chances are you are worthy of the title.

Arsenal were unlucky in the last game. The crazy moment at the end was just a freakish piece of good fortune. Maybe not a black swan event, but that does sound cool when I read it back. We let Villa take us into the fine margins and they won. Arteta allowed the game turn into a basketball match. We had no control, the game was wild, and when you let Emery dictate the rules, he quite often has better finishing moves (at least against us).

This game today has to be about a sickening level of control, almost perverse, totally unnerving like a gross independent film about a wife who makes her husband walk off a bridge to prove he loves her. This needs to be physical, technical, and psychological. We need to break their souls out there and reassert our dominance as the number one team in the country.

It will not be easy, but we have some things going our way. Namely, it is looking very likely we’ll see Kai, Gabby, and Ben White in the squad for the game (Hand of Arsenal again). That is incredible news. It would be even sexier if Timber or Ricky manage to make it.

This bout has a little extra on the importance factor. Lose, and Villa draw level on points with us. But if we can win the game, City players have to stew on that for two days before going to the Stadium of Light for a big game against Sunderland. These are the games that create narrative pressure, and they are usually the sort we don’t do well in.

Arteta was very respectful of Villa in the press conference. The main talking point coming out of it was that Arsenal will be looking at players in the January window.

This next view is not based on intel, but if we do move on players in January, it signals a shift at Arsenal and within our ownership group. We massively overspent in the summer; the idea that we’d go again in January, with the squad size we have, seems fanciful. Loans? Maybe. Arsenal blew their Premier League loan moves on Neto and Sterling last year, meaning we couldn’t bring in players like Rashford. This year, we can flex into the league. The only callout here is there aren’t many players that work out as upgrades at Arsenal; it’s probably highly unlikely we’ll find a loan deal that could work for us.

We should also be very wary of the deals everyone gets pumped for in January before pretending they never fancied the players a year later when they flopped. Yep, I saw you waxing lyrical over Kolo Muani, Mathys Tel, and Omar Marmoush. Look at them now, a total waste of time.

Eveeeeeen Ollie Watkins who has 3 goals to his name this season, two of which came against Chelsea 3 days ago… and to think you were shrieking ‘he’s worth it, boy doesn’t have many miles on the clock’… yes, I remember.

Arteta has a big squad. I don’t think we need to be adding more bodies. We should be trying to get the max out of players who haven’t been getting a lot of playing time.

Look at Ethan Nwaneri. He was great on the right last season, now he’s being passed over and you’d not be shocked to see him go out on loan.

We also have to remember there are a lot of ‘like a new signing’ players who haven’t played a lot of minutes that could contribute.

• Odegaard

• Kai

• Jesus

• Ben White

• Mosquera

• Big Gabi

These are all players that will be very fresh as we head into a part of the season that requires it. If Arteta can keep the squad healthy and rotate like a normal manager, we might just get down the home stretch in good shape.

Too much fantasy for one blog after that domestic murder plot? I agree. I need to calm down. Let’s see if we can get past this Villa side.

Villa are missing the goal scorer from the last game, Matty Cash (elite hair), and Boubacar Kamara; both are suspended. Pau Torres is also still out with injury. So is Tyrone Mings (standard) and the magnificent Ross Barkley.

I have no idea how we’re going to play tomorrow, but my guess is that we’re going to play a starting XI built for high amounts of control. I would love to see Jesus lead the line, but it’ll probably be Big Gyokeres again. I think it’ll be Trossard and Saka flanking. Midfield will hopefully be the Tres chicos estrella de la Sociedad (Merino, Zubi, and Odegaard). Defence will be Myles, Big Gabi, Saliba, and Declan.

That is a good lineup. It has control, power, aggression, and a lot of players associated with Aston Villa pain. I want this to be the revenge tour, I need to see guts spilled, I want to see Unai on his knees, face contorted, confused about what is happening to his flock. This is war.

Ok, that’s all I have for you today. See you in the comments.

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