What Arsenal staff are now privately saying about Aston Villa game after midweek defeat

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Arsenal staff feel that tomorrow’s clash with Aston Villa is now a must-win game after three winless Premier League matches.

Manchester City beat the Gunners 3-1 on Wednesday night to go back to the top of the table, although Mikel Arteta’s men have a game in hand.

Journalist Miguel Delaney has written in his weekly Reading the Game column that Arteta has tried to emphasise the importance of simply learning from that defeat.

But staff and insiders feel that they must win tomorrow to get back on the horse and avoid this blip going on much longer.

Arsenal staff now think Aston Villa game is a must-win

He wrote: “Mikel Arteta has spent the last two days trying to ensure his players aren’t too down on the defeat to Manchester City.

“The only message has been to just try and work out what went wrong and only look back on the game in terms of fixing it. It’s all about what next.

“That is having an effect but it can’t completely erode a growing concern at the club ahead of this weekend. The feeling in terms of the title is, after three Premier League games without a victory, that it’s “win or bust” on Saturday.

“You could argue it’s completely the wrong game, though. Arsenal face an awkward trip to a well-organised Aston Villa, who are of course managed by Arteta’s predecessor Unai Emery.

“The hope is that this all brings out more in these season’s great revelations. It might just show their inexperience, though. This one is almost as big as the City game.”

Arsenal are not playing too badly but they have not got the results in recent matches, and Wednesday’s loss was a hammer blow.

City are back on top, and while Arsenal have control of the situation with their game to spare, so do Pep Guardiola’s men in theory, because they have still got to welcome Arteta’s side in April.

Arsenal have one point from their last three games and cannot afford for that run to carry on against former Gunners Emery and Emi Martinez, who will no doubt have a point to prove tomorrow.