Our first Scout Notes of Gameweek 19 cover Arsenal’s emphatic 4-1 win over Aston Villa, including a Declan Rice (£7.2m) injury update.
RICE INJURY LAST
Declan Rice missed the win over Aston Villa due to a knee injury he suffered on Saturday.
Asked whether the England international will return in time to face Bournemouth in Gameweek 20, Mikel Arteta said:
“It depends. The swelling needs to go down right away before he can function. He hasn’t been able to do that yet today. He’s doing better, but let’s see what happens in the next few days.” – Mikel Arteta on Declan Rice
Riccardo Calafiori (£5.7m) was also absent from Gameweek 19, with Piero Hincapie (£5.4m), which saw him keep his place and move to left-back.
In better news, several players returned for Arsenal in the Emirates.
GABRIEL IN-QUESTION
Arteta made two changes to his defense against Villa, with Jurriën Hout (£6.4 million) and Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.4 million), both back in the starting lineup.
Two players also returned from injury to the bench: Ben White (£5.1 million) and Kai Havertz (£7.3 million).
Gabriel, making his first start since November, promptly found the net Bukayo Saka (£10.3m) corner, which put the home side ahead shortly after the break and put the hosts ahead.
The Brazilian, perhaps Arsenal’s most important player, scored an impressive 15 points after – like Timber – being knocked out before conceding.
The only concern was that Gabriel was indeed taken off the field in the 77th minute, although thankfully it sounds like a precaution.
Gabriel has already experienced an overnight price increase, with more than 156,000 managers signing him since Tuesday’s deadline.
ODEGAARD “FLUENT”
After Gabriel’s opener, Arsenal took this match by the scruff of the neck and scored more goals Martin Zubimendi (£5.2 million), Leandro Trossard (£6.9 million) and replacement Gabriel Jesus (£6.4 million).
The exquisite Martin Odegaard (£7.8m) produced the assist for Zubimendi’s strike.
He has really taken a step forward in his last two games, with seven shots and eight chances created.
When asked about Odegaard’s display on Tuesday, Arteta said:
“He needed some consistency and a few games. Obviously he had two shoulder injuries and then a big knee injury, and that takes some time. Now you can see that it’s flowing, that his energy level is back to normal. He takes risks, he has a great influence on the game and I think he was very, very good again today.” – Mikel Arteta on Martin Odegaard
ABSENCES IMPACT VILLA
Unai Emery made five changes to Aston Villa, who defeated Chelsea last time out Matty Cash (£4.9 million) and Boubacar camera (£4.9m) among those dropping out due to suspension.
Those absences, as well as an injury at half-time Amadou Onana (£4.8m) clearly had an impact on Villa as they were left hanging by a thread for the final 45 minutes, with their structure and form suffering.
Before that, Villa was enjoying himself as he strolled through Arsenal’s midfield at will in the early stages.
Ollie Watkins (£8.5m) finally found the net deep into extra time, with a total of five shots John McGinn (£5.4 million) had recently missed a sitter.
Overall, however, this was a step too far for Villa.
“Today we played a very good first half, different from the match against Chelsea. Of course we were competing well and even gaining our momentum and creating chances. We didn’t concede much, no corners in the first half for them. But in the second half the first goal changed everything and after that they continued. And we also had the injury of Amadou Onana and we lost everything in the middle and they have the strength they showed.” – Unai Emery
Watkins has now produced five goals and two assists in six games.
Morgan Rogers (£7.4) has also been in good form of late, with some better games coming up for Villa from Gameweek 20 onwards.
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