View: Aston Villa can take positives away from Arsenal defeat
Aston Villa and Steven Gerrard can take positives away from the Arsenal defeat despite now losing four of their five Premier League games this season.
The Villans lost 2-1 to the Gunners with goals from Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli coming either side of Douglas Luiz’s equaliser.
However, despite the defeat, Aston Villa gave a good account of themselves and have a lot to be encouraged about going forward.
In the first round of midweek fixtures of the Premier League season, it was a fantastic game at the Emirates Stadium played with intensity and passion from the very start.
Gerrard’s team were under intense pressure in the first half and were lucky to go into half-time only one goal down as it really could have and should have been more.
However, they did show resolve to not only stay in the game but to also get an equaliser, and if not for some more quality and luck, they could have nicked a winner.
The travelling Villa fans applauded the Villa players at the full-time whistle and this was thoroughly deserved after their performance.
They were strong in their tackles, resolute and had several attacking patterns in the game that put the Gunners under pressure and on another day would have resulted in a goal.
Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins were particularly impressive and gave Gerrard a lot to be encouraged about for their upcoming fixtures.
If the Villans can continue to perform with that sort of intensity, they will surely see a reward for it very soon.
In other Aston Villa news, Atletico Madrid are set to bid for Douglas Luiz.