Arsenal 2 - Wolves 0 Aston Villa 0 - Arsenal 2 Hi all and welcome to the blog! The 24/25 Premier League season is officially under way and the Gunners have started in fine form with a maximum six points from their opening two games. The performances so far might not have been five stars, but at this early stage in the season - where players are still building towards full match sharpness - the results are the most important thing. Let’s start with our opening day win at home to Wolves. Calum and I spoke about this one on the pod last week. It was a solid performance from the lads - bar a twenty minute period where Wolves seemed to gain some momentum which we struggled to wrestle back until we scored our second of the game. I thought we dominated the first-half and we could have easily been three or four up by the half-time break. Havertz looked sharp, Saka was running riot down the right wing. It is to nobody’s surprise then that the opening goal came from these two: a superb cross from Saka floated into the box with Havertz on the receiving end to head into the back of the net. Raya pulled-off an unbelievable save to prevent Wolves equalising just before half-time. After the break we struggle to find the same rhythm and fluidity. Wolves grew into the game and started to assert themselves, dominating possession for the first fifteen minutes of the half. You can never be comfortable with just a one goal lead in this league no-matter who you’re up against. Up stepped Bukayo Saka, a player that can change games, and indeed did so. A classic Saka goal with a lovely run off the right-wing, cutting inside, and firing a bullet of a shot off his left foot. Once Arsenal scored the second the result was never in doubt. Not a vintage display but enough to secure the three points from the first game of the season. Let’s move onto Villa away then. This was always going to be a tough game against the team that did the double over us last season - albeit we played well in both games. It was another two-nil win for the Gunners, and, away from home against top-four opposition this early in the season is a huge win for the team. I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that either. With really tricky away fixtures to Spurs and City immediately after the international break this was a big three points for Arsenal and massive boost for the players. It was far from a spectacular performance, but good enough to get the job done. Aston Villa squandered some incredible chances (one of them an outstanding save from Raya) whilst the game was level, if these go in on another day it’s a different story. The Premier League is ruthless and if you do not take your chances you get punished. Arsenal have been on the receiving end many times, but this time it was Arsenal who did the punishing. Trossard came off the bench to replace Martinelli. He was a player with a point to prove and did so immediately - getting on to the end of a great cut-back and some hard work from Saka with a lovely finish. Right-place, right-time from the Belgian. We’ve seen it many times and will continue to do so, surely he will be given a chance in the starting line-up at home to Brighton next week from Arteta. Trossard continued to threaten in behind the Villa defence. Shortly after the first goal he managed to put in a dangerous ball across the six-yard box, met by Bukayo Saka who then found Thomas Partey on the edge of the box. Partye, who had a mixed-bag-of-a-game, curled one past Martinez into the back of the net to make it two-zip to the Arsenal. Cue scenes in the away end and a huge sigh of relief from all Arsenal fans. Villa still threatened, looking to get back into the game. Saliba with a lung-busting run got back in the nick of time to put in a huge block on a Jacob Ramsey shot. The Frenchman then proceeded to celebrate as if he’d scored a goal himself. It’s this kind of passion and determination from the players that resonates with the fans and shows why we’re such a strong team again. We love to see it. Arsenal could have added a third right at the end, Ødegaard should have buried the ball into the Villa net after a lovely Arsenal move and run from Declan Rice to set him up. All-in-all a difficult match in which we definitely rode our luck at times and have David Raya to thank with THAT massive save from Ollie Watkins in the second half. I spoke about match sharpness at the start of this post - I do think maybe later on in the season a fully sharp Ollie Watkins takes the two chances he had. Perhaps it was beneficial to have this one so early on in the calendar. Conversely, David Raya who prevented Watkins scoring one of those chances with an incredible save, needs to be spoken about. Two big-big saves from the opening two games, without a doubt the player of the match in this one against Villa. It’s one of those footballing clichès to say that a top-class goalkeeper can earn you ten-to-twelve points a season with match-winning saves and there is no doubt at all that Raya pulled off a match-winning save for us in this one. There are some other players that deserve a mention from our performances so far: We’ve already spoken about Trossard who has given no other choice to the manager but to start him next week. After a bit of a rusty display against Wolves, Saliba looked back to his best versus Aston Villa. Thomas Partey scored the second for Arsenal against Villa which deserves a shout-out. He had some really good moments, but also really poor moments, in both games so far. There were some nice touches in the first half against Villa, however, too frequently Morgan Rogers cruised past him with ease in the midfield. It seems like all the injuries have caught up to him and I don’t think he’s a full ninety-minute player in all honesty. It seems incredibly harsh after he popped up with a crucial goal for us, but the sooner the Merino deal is done I think the better. Last but not least, Saka again puts in consistently solid performances time and time again. He is so fundamental to this team that I’ve run out of superlatives to describe his importance. A great start to the season so far with two wins from two. Brighton this weekend will be another tough test. There’s still five days left of the transfer window to get through but this blog has gone on long enough so that will be a different post for a different day. Until then.