Arsenal eyes will be on Villa Park as the look for former manager Unai Emery to take points off title rivals Liverpool.
With thirteen games to go in the Premier League title race it has got to that point in the season where Arsenal will be looking at where Liverpool may drop points.
Emery’s Villa side have a formidable home record and former Gunner Donyell Malen is ready to showcase their quality against Arne Slot’s league leaders.
Mikel Arteta’s task of chasing down Liverpool has been made harder with Arsenal’s injury crisis but the club have shown they are more than capable of dealing with adversity in their past triumphs.
Arsenal have won the Premier League in 1998 and 2002 with injuries to key players
In 1998, Arsenal trailed Manchester United by 13 points at one stage in the season and still managed to comeback to win the Premier League title and FA Cup double.
What made that achievement even more impressive for Arsene Wenger’s side was that they missed Dennis Bergkamp for ten games in that season and Ian Wright for fourteen matches.
It meant that Wenger was forced to call upon the likes of Nicolas Anelka and Christopher Wreh to drag the Gunners through the troublesome periods and blossomed two fine young players that would make their mark.
In similar fashion, Arsenal travelled to Manchester United in 2002 without Thierry Henry and Bergkamp once again but still managed to win 1-0 to secure the league title.
Arteta faces an uphill battle with his lack of options in attack but can take inspiration from these previous successes that players can emerge from the shadows, Mikel Merino has already begun that trend.
Christopher Wreh signed from Guingamp in 1997
The emergence of Wreh during the double-winning season of 1997-98 gives hope to Gunners fans amidst the current absentees in the first team squad.
Wreh was signed from French side Guingamp under Wenger and was unknown to English fans before scoring four crucial goals in Arsenal’s end of season run in.
With Arsenal still competing for both the league and the Champions League, Arteta will be looking at his squad to step up and emulate Wreh in securing vital victories for the club.
All is not lost for the Gunners, they just need to find some new heroes in the absence of their consistent performers.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
