‘Amazing’ Arsenal star’s starting spot is surely gone now after what he did vs Aston Villa

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Arsenal have suffered an agonising defeat to Aston Villa in the Premier League.

Mikel Arteta has often found it tough against Unai Emery over the years, and that was once again the case at Villa Park on Saturday.

The hosts were a level above the Gunners in the first half and deservedly went a goal ahead. Leandro Trossard levelled it seven minutes after the break, but Emiliano Buendia scored the winner with the final kick of the match.

Several Arsenal players were not at the required level against Villa. Eberechi Eze was one of them.

Eberechi Eze could lose his starting spot at Arsenal after his performance vs Aston Villa

The game against Aston Villa was Eze’s 12th start in his last 15 games for Arsenal.

The England international nailed down a place for himself in the side after Martin Odegaard’s injury, and he produced a few great moments. The hat-trick against Tottenham was sensational.

However, there have been games in which Eze has just been a passenger. Saturday lunchtime’s clash against Aston Villa was one such fixture, and this may just have been his worst display yet in Arsenal’s colours.

Not only did Eze have no joy in the final third when he had the ball at his feet, but he also didn’t offer much help defensively. In fact, it was he who was at fault for Matty Cash’s goal in the first half.

Eze was taken off at the break, and this performance could be bad news for him, as his place in Arsenal’s starting lineup could be gone now.

That’s because Odegaard is back fit, and he looked much better than the Englishman. Trossard is also back, and he scored against Villa.

Those two players play in the positions that Eze has been starting in this season. After what happened at Villa Park, it has to be said that they deserve to start ahead of the former Palace star.

Ian Wright criticises Eberechi Eze and Arsenal’s left side

Arsenal’s left flank was their weak point in the first half against Aston Villa.

Eze had a really poor game both with and without the ball, and Riccardo Calafiori pushing high up the pitch and inverting left a lot of free space for Villa to attack.

Wright was far from happy with that, and at half-time, the Arsenal legend pointed the finger at Eze.

He said on Premier League Productions: “The left side, it’s giving me a problem at the moment. Calafiori is going up and is going inside, Eze wants to go inside, Matty Cash has so much space to run into continually.”

Speaking about the first goal of the game, he added: “Eze has a look, he sees him, he needs to open his body out a little bit more, he’s reacted too late, Matty Cash can get forward. Our left is nowhere near as productive as our right.”