Our first Scout Notes of Gameweek 19 takes in Arsenal’s emphatic 4-1 win over Aston Villa, which includes a Declan Rice (£7.2m) injury update.
RICE INJURY LATEST
Declan Rice missed the win over Aston Villa due to a knee injury he picked up on Saturday.
Asked if the England international will return in time to face Bournemouth in Gameweek 20, Mikel Arteta said:
“It depends. The swelling has to come right down for him to have the chance to function. He wasn’t able to do that today yet. He’s improving but let’s see what happens in the next couple of days.” – Mikel Arteta on Declan Rice
Riccardo Calafiori (£5.7m) was also absent in Gameweek 19, with Piero Hincapie (£5.4m) consequently keeping his place and shifting over to left-back.
In better news, several players returned for Arsenal at the Emirates.
GABRIEL IN-DEMAND
Arteta made two changes to his defence against Villa, with Jurrien Timber (£6.4m) and Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.4m) both back in the starting XI.
Two players also returned from injury on the bench: Ben White (£5.1m) and Kai Havertz (£7.3m).
Gabriel, making his first start since November, promptly found the net from a Bukayo Saka (£10.3m) corner, bundling home shortly after the break to give the hosts the lead.
Arguably Arsenal’s most important player, the Brazilian produced a whopping 15-point haul, having been subbed off – like Timber – before conceding.
The only concern was that Gabriel was indeed taken off in the 77th minute, although thankfully, it does sound precautionary.
Gabriel has already experienced an overnight price rise, with over 156,000 managers bringing him in since the Tuesday deadline.
ODEGAARD “FLOWING”
After Gabriel’s opener, Arsenal took this match by the scruff of the neck, with further goals scored by Martin Zubimendi (£5.2m), Leandro Trossard (£6.9m) and substitute Gabriel Jesus (£6.4m).
The superb Martin Odegaard (£7.8m) produced the assist for Zubimendi’s strike.
He’s really stepped up in his last two matches, racking up seven shots and eight chances created.
When asked about Odegaard’s display on Tuesday, Arteta said:
“He needed some consistency and some games. Obviously, he had two times the shoulder injury, then he had a big knee injury, and that takes a little bit of time. Now you can see that it’s flowing, that his energy level is back to where it is. He’s taking risks, he’s affecting the game in a great way and I think he was really, really good today again.” – Mikel Arteta on Martin Odegaard
ABSENCES IMPACT VILLA
Unai Emery made five changes to the Aston Villa side that beat Chelsea last time out, with Matty Cash (£4.9m) and Boubacar Kamara (£4.9m) among those dropping out due to suspension.
Those absences, as well as a half-time injury to Amadou Onana (£4.8m), clearly impacted Villa, as they spent the final 45 minutes hanging on by a thread, with their structure and shape suffering.
Prior to that, Villa got plenty of joy, strolling through Arsenal’s midfield at will during the early stages.
Ollie Watkins (£8.5m) did finally find the net deep into added time, with five shots in total, while John McGinn (£5.4m) missed a sitter moments before.
Overall, however, this was one step too far for Villa.
“Today we did very good first half, different to the match against Chelsea and of course we were competing well and even getting our momentum and creating chances. We did not concede a lot, no corners in the first half for them. But the second half the first goal changed everything and after it they pushed it. And we had as well the injury of Amadou Onana and we lost everything in the middle and they have the power they showed.” – Unai Emery
Watkins, meanwhile, has now produced five goals and two assists in six matches.
Morgan Rogers (£7.4) has recently been in good form, too, with some better fixtures on the way for Villa from Gameweek 20 onwards.
