Arsenal's most famous game at Villa Park wasn't even against Aston Villa. In 1999, Arsenal faced Man Utd at Villa Park in an FA Cup semi-final replay. United were going for a Treble, Arsenal could stop them and achieve their own Double. With the score 1-1, Arsenal are awarded a penalty late.... (Do you know what? I know what happened. You probably know what happened. I don't really want to go over it again. You probably don't either so let's just move on to the present and we can all enjoy going into the weekend without looking back on you-know-what).
This weekend's fixtures throw up a fixture that scores highly on the xNarrative (xN) scale. Everywhere you look; at the managers, at the players, at the context, there's narrative overflowing as Aston Villa host Arsenal on Saturday evening.
Battle of the Basque Bosses: Aston Villa v Arsenal (xNarrative = 0.7)
Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery are from the same part of Spain and have both managed Arsenal. That is where the comparisons should end. However, even after a routine 2-nil home victory last weekend, Arsenal fans online debated who was the better manager. The debate overlooked the fact that Arteta is still a rookie manager and it's still not clear exactly what his ceiling is. What is clear is that he has raised the quality and expectation at Arsenal. Emery is a much more seasoned coach with a great track record of making teams better than the sum of their parts, resulting in several trophies along the way. The question marks for both managers are: can Arteta add silverware? Can Emery manage a 'big club' of superstars?
More pertinent to this weekend's fixture is the jinx Emery seems to have over Arteta. Statistically, Emery is Arteta's least obliging opponent. The two defeats against Emery's Villa last season arguably cost Arsenal the title so Arteta will be looking for revenge (more on that later) while trying to ensure any potential title challenge doesn't stutter just as things get going. Conversely, Emery will be looking to show that his Villa team were not a one-off last season and can cope with the incoming Champions League fixtures (unlike Newcastle last season). Arteta was suspended last season at Villa Park so it will be intriguing to have both managers prowling the touchline come Saturday.
Martinez's Main Character Energy
Another key aspect of narrative is the players. Villa goalkeeper, Emi Martinez, displays strange characteristics to draw attention against any opposition but against the club that effectively backed Bernd Leno over him will surely inspire Martinez to new levels of main character energy.
Martinez surely a couple of years ago. In the same year he won the golden glove at the World Cup - which he dry-humped in front of a bemused Qatari crowd, against Arsenal his antics have become the stuff of legend.
A whole host of dark arts were employed by Martinez throughout the game and when it looked like those antics would ensure Villa got something out of the game, things unravelled for the Villa keeper. First, Jorginho hit a sumptuous shot from outside the box which hit the woodwork, then Martinez, directing it into the net meaning Arsenal had the lead with only minutes left. In desperation to try and get a draw, Martinez goes up for a corner. Arsenal managed to come away with the ball and Vieira plays a devastating pass to Martinelli who has time to dribble into the net that Martinez abandoned. Cue wild scenes in the Arsenal away end.
Arsenal Avengers Assemble
All of this has built to make Arsenal and Villa context rivals. In just the last couple of years the mix of ex-manager, ex-player, embarrassing or controversial defeats either way mean that things are a bit spicy between the Gunners and the Villains.
Currently, Arteta will be most desperate for victory. His absence on the touchline shouldn't be underestimated when considering Arsenal's defeat at Villa Park last season. Villa's high line was not exploited enough and Arsenal may have missed Mikel's touchline tinkering. Add to the fact those defeats were so costly to Arsenal's campaign and it may be another case of Arteta trying to rouse the troops for revenge. Like Newcastle last season, or Brentford before that, at times, motivation has often pushed Arsenal to produce some outstanding performances.
Local Rivalry? I kid you not.
Finally, a weird one. In previewing this weekend's fixture between Aston Villa of Birmingham and Arsenal of London (114 miles apart), NBC referred to Arsenal looking to avenge last season's defeats. So far, so normal. They then go on to describe the teams as 'cross-town rivals.' Er, not sure about that one! (https://x.com/JamaicaPM/status/1825244106882269209?t=3212wuZ94IS2QJcX-R0cbw&s=19) The stereotype about America's poor sense of geography may have some basis!