Analysis: Arsenal missed Saliba and Gabriel 'calmness'

Arsenal's match against Aston Villa was a game that felt like it went under the radar because of the run of matches the Gunners had before it.

And the loss to Unai Emery's side will only highlight the problems that, despite Arsenal's excellent start to the season, have been mounting.

They have battled injuries to key players throughout the season - and this game was no different with the news that Cristhian Mosquera had been ruled out for about six weeks before the match.

That meant Jurrien Timber had to play at centre-back, with Ben White coming in at right-back, which is how the Arsenal defence ended up during their win over Brentford in midweek.

White starting at right-back and captain Martin Odegaard returning in midfield meant that White, Odegaard and Bukayo Saka were reunited on the right-hand side of Arsenal's team.

The relationship between the three has been key to Arsenal's attack in recent seasons and the majority of Arsenal's play during the match went down that side.

But Odegaard coming into the team in the middle meant that Eberechi Eze was shifted to the left-wing, but there are more defensive responsibilities to carry out in that position and the England international switched off for Matty Cash's goal.

Mikel Merino was removed at half-time alongside Eze, and Leandro Trossard came on to score his sixth goal of the season. He continues to be one of Arsenal's standout players this season.

The match was more open than Mikel Arteta would've liked, and Arsenal missed the calmness of William Saliba and Gabriel and their presence in both boxes.

Saturday's match was only the fourth time since the start of the 2022-23 season that Arsenal started a league game without Saliba or Gabriel.

Emi Buendia's winner would likely have been dealt with better if the two centre-backs had been on the pitch. With seven more games this month, Arteta will be hoping this is just a blip and not the start of a considerable drop in form.