Arsenal have carried on where they left off last season, winning their first two Premier League games of 2026/27 to nil.
A solitary goal from Bukayo Saka (£9.5m) saw the Gunners edge out Aston Villa, who at least made some small strides after their Gameweek 1 pasting at the Amex.
Here are our Scout Notes, which feature data and screenshots from our new Match Centre.
MOSQUERA INJURY LATEST + KONSA MAKES DEBUT
The much-touted full debut for Ezri Konsa (£4.4m) didn’t materialise, as Cristhian Mosquera (£5.5m) kept his place in an unchanged backline. The entire Arsenal XI was the same as Gameweek 1, in fact.
But Konsa did make it onto the pitch for his Gunners bow, replacing Mosquera after the 79th minute.
The latter had needed medical treatment before coming off but Mikel Arteta said it was a precautionary withdrawal.
“He’s fine, but he was feeling like he was about to have something, and that’s why we have the bench that we have, and that’s why we had to bring Ezri in.” – Mikel Arteta on Cristhian Mosquera
Still, you wonder if Konsa will now be promoted to the line-up in Gameweek 3, having now had his first taste of action with his new club.
“Really happy with Ezri, as well, because it was a really tricky debut to come here to your ex-club and just contain that emotion and play really focused. I think he was brilliant.” – Mikel Arteta on Ezri Konsa
TZOLIS HOOKED – AND REPLACEMENT EZE PRAISED
Coming off even earlier than Konsa was Christos Tzolis (£6.5m). The 24%-owned winger failed to emerge for the second half, having had a bit of a stinker before the interval. He’d been booked, too.
The Greek wide-man, so impressive in the weeks preceding this game, didn’t complete a single cross, take-on or pass into the Villa box.
Arteta didn’t mention the rationale behind that half-time withdrawal but did hail the impact of Eberechi Eze (£6.4m), who replaced Tzolis on the left wing. The England international ‘assisted the assister’ for Arsenal’s only goal of the game.
“Ebs comes in, he makes a difference to win the game.
“We knew that he could create an action. He created three actions that he put people almost looking at the goalkeeper one-against-one, but as well I have to trust him. When they make the rotation, especially on the right-hand side, and Cash’s goal, last year he lost him, we conceded the goal – and this year, I think he learned a lesson because every time something was happening he was at it, and I think he helped the team in a great way.” – Mikel Arteta on Eberechi Eze
High praise for Tzolis’ replacement, then, which may be a bit of a concern ahead of Gameweek 3.
Arteta has even ruled out the prospect of signing other attackers before tonight’s transfer deadline.
“As I said, we’re trying to improve the squad until tomorrow night. We’re going to try to do that. I’ve been disconnected from the world for 24 hours because I think my energy and focus has to be on the match, but I will get back on it now.” – Mikel Arteta, when asked if he was planning to bolster his left-wing options
ANOTHER GOAL FOR SAKA, ANOTHER ASSIST FOR CALAFIORI
Saka notched a goal for the second successive Gameweek, while Riccardo Calafiori (£5.6m) now has back-to-back assists to his name.
We didn’t see as much of the Italian international getting forward – Ben White (£5.5m) had over twice as many final-third touches – but he was there when it mattered for the winner, running inside of Eze and squaring for Saka to tap in.
The in-form defender had gone close with a set-piece attempt of his own earlier.
Encouragingly, he lasted 90 minutes (as did Saka and White), too.
“He’s been great. He’s been much more consistent. I think he’s been training every single day and you can see that his emotional state is high. I think physically is in a really good place.” – Mikel Arteta on Riccardo Calafiori
THE ARCHETYPAL ARSENAL DISPLAY
Arsenal were a bit raggedy with their passing at times, gifting Villa the ball in some dangerous areas, while their final ball at the other end was often lacking.
But we’re only two Gameweeks in, and we can expect some cobwebs at this early stage of 2026/27.
Otherwise, this was the archetypal Arsenal display.
Defence is their strong suit, and they restricted Villa to precious little. Even the hosts’ closest effort, an Emi Buendia (£6.0m) strike from distance that clipped the top of the bar, very likely would have been disallowed, had it gone in, for a foul in the build-up. A Nicholas Jackson (£6.5m) cross that evaded everyone, an off-target Ian Maatsen (£4.5m) effort and a blocked Matty Cash (£4.5m) shot were about the best of the rest, but Villa didn’t really threaten the clean sheet. David Raya (£6.0m) didn’t have a save to make.
Another strength is set plays. We’ve already mentioned Calafiori’s chance, while Gabriel Magalhaes (£8.0m) perhaps should have scored from a Declan Rice (£7.5m) corner, with Zion Suzuki (£5.0m) flapping.
The one stick used to beat Arsenal with is their lack of open-play threat. In fact, at Villa Park, they had only four such shots (‘SP’ below is set-play attempts):
Still, you never get the feeling they’re really panicking, probing patiently while they’re waiting for that one opening, knowing that one chance may be enough, given their superiority at the back. Not great to watch, but often effective.
RICE BANKS DEFCON AT THE LAST!
There’s a boost for Rice owners this morning! After the data refresh, the midfielder has joined Gabriel in banking DefCon points.
Saka remains just one contribution away.
BETTER FROM VILLA
Anything after Gameweek 1 was going to be an improvement for Villa, and it always looked like the opening weekend was a ‘bottoming out’ period, with the squad decimated and looking morale-sapped following some high-profile exits. The ranks have been bolstered since, with Jackson and Suzuki making their full debuts here. Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.5m) and Alejandro Garnacho (£5.9m) appeared from the bench, too.
It was a workmanlike display, with chances at a premium, but Arsenal are going to stifle most teams. Hull City in Gameweek 3 will be more of an acid test as to where they are with their rebuild.
“Today, I think we compete fantastic collectively, tactically as well. The team responded fantastic. This is the way.” – Unai Emery
£4.5m midfielder George Hemmings made another start for the Villans, although you wonder how long his run in the team will last, with Buendia and Garnacho able to take up his left-wing role, and Joao Gomes (£5.5m), Johan Manzambi (£5.9m) and Leon Goretzka (£6.0m) still to return in central positions.
MATCH SUMMARY
