Timber showed what Arsenal missed

Arsenal’s win over Aston Villa was important for a number of reasons.

It showed they can go to a Champions League club and win away from home and also got rid of the bad feeling from last season where the two losses against Villa severely damaged their title bid.

But the performance of Jurrien Timber also showed what Arsenal missed last season as they were robbed of his presence by injury.

Timber was coming into midfield to build up play with Thomas Partey and him doing so allowed the team to get into a 3-2-5 formation in possession and build up attacks.

He was solid defensively and dealt with the threat of Leon Bailey. He also matches the physical profile of the team that Arsenal have built.

Mikel Arteta having the option to bring him in and rotate at either left-back, right-back and even midfield means that Arsenal have more options when trying to break teams down.

The next step will be if he can create a link with Arsenal's left winger to match what Ben White and Bukayo Saka have built on the other flank.

The signing of Mikel Merino also means he will have a new midfield player to link up with and Timber will be hoping he can build on the positive display to show that he is one of the reasons why Arsenal will go one better this season and push to end their title wait.