Saka: Arsenal's 'incredible' defence key to victory at Aston Villa

Bukayo Saka heaped praise on Arsenal's backline after the Gunners' perfect start to the Premier League title defence continued at Aston Villa on Monday. 

Saka scored the only goal as Arsenal came out on top with a 1-0 victory over Unai Emery's side, following up their triumph over Coventry City on the opening day. 

Arsenal needed to wait until the 59th minute to take the lead at Villa Park, with Riccardo Calafiori's inviting cross turned into the back of the net by Saka from close range. 

The goal saw Saka net in consecutive Premier League appearances for the first time since November 2024, while all three of his strikes in the competition against Villa have come away from the Emirates Stadium. 

But Arsenal struggled in the final third, only generating an expected goals (xG) total of 1.04 from their seven shots, but they were able to restrict Villa to a total of just 0.33 from the same number of attempts, none of which were on target.

Since the start of March, Arsenal have kept eight Premier League clean sheets – three more than any other side. The only side in Europe's big-five leagues with more are Juventus (nine), and Saka lauded his team's defence. 

"Very, very tough game. It's not easy coming here, they made it hard for us. It feels even better to come out with the win," Saka told Sky Sports. 

"The way they defended, really compact and with a high line, they caught us offside. We had to adapt to that.

"Different from what we faced last week, we weren't able to implement our attacking pattern. One goal is normally enough for us because we are so solid at the back.

"When we got the first one, it actually opened the game up. We wanted to push for the second one. All the full-backs, the way they play gives us a lot.

"For us wingers, it opens up the game for us, we've always got composure in the box. We weren't at our highest level with the ball. Without it, we were incredible.

"As soon as we lost it, we were running back. We knew that they liked to play in transition. All the boys put in a shift tonight. It helps with a clean sheet."

Arsenal's victory was their 14th in the Premier League by a 1-0 scoreline in the last three seasons, six more than any other club has managed during that time. 

It was also the 16th time in the last five seasons they did not allow a shot on target in a Premier League game, twice as many as any other side (Liverpool - eight). 

The Gunners have also faced the fewest shots (11), the fewest shots on target (one) and allowed their opponents the lowest xG (0.52) across the first two matchdays of the Premier League season, which underlines their quality at the back. 

David Raya kept his 50th clean sheet in the Premier League in what was his 109th appearance for the club. Since joining Arsenal in 2023-24, the Spaniard has recorded more shutouts than any other goalkeeper across Europe's big-five leagues.

Arsenal have now started their Premier League season with two wins in a row for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, including the last five in a row, with a mouth-watering tie against Chelsea coming up this Sunday.

Chelsea have won both of their first two games of a top-flight season while scoring 3+ goals each time for the fourth time, after 1936-37, 2010-11, and 2018-19, though Saka was not fazed by the Blues' strong start. 

When asked if he had seen Xabi Alonso's side play this season, Saka simply responded with: "Yeah, I've seen them."

Saka was further pressed as to what he thought of Chelsea's start to the campaign, the England international smiled and said: "We'll see on Sunday."