Eberechi Eze needed only 14 second-half minutes to play a decisive role in Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over Aston Villa, and his impact has given Mikel Arteta a major selection call before Chelsea visit the Emirates Stadium.
Arteta had initially kept faith with Christos Tzolis on the left, naming an unchanged side at Villa Park after Arsenal’s opening victory over Coventry. Eze therefore started among the substitutes in an Arsenal XI which also left Bruno Guimarães and Ezri Konsa on the bench, as covered in our confirmed Arsenal team against Aston Villa.
That changed at half-time.
Tzolis had already been booked following a challenge on Matty Cash, and Arteta introduced Eze for the second period. The substitution quickly changed the complexion of Arsenal’s left side.
Eberechi Eze helps unlock Aston Villa
Bukayo Saka will rightly receive the headlines after scoring Arsenal’s winner in the 59th minute, but Eze’s role in creating the opening should not be overlooked.
Gabriel found Eze to the left of Villa’s penalty area. The summer signing quickly released Riccardo Calafiori down the channel before the Italian reached the ball ahead of Victor Lindelöf and sent a low delivery across goal.
Saka did the rest from close range. The move can be seen in Sky Sports’ footage of Saka’s winning goal, while The Guardian’s live report details Eze’s involvement in creating the opening.
It will not go down as an Eze assist.
It could nevertheless prove more significant than that statistic suggests.
Arsenal had controlled long periods without consistently finding a way through Villa. Eze gave Arteta another player comfortable receiving centrally from the left and immediately showed the awareness required to exploit Calafiori’s movement outside him.
That combination created the only goal of the evening.
Arteta now has a genuine Chelsea decision
Tzolis has hardly played himself out of the team.
The summer signing started the season strongly and Arteta trusted him again at Villa Park. His yellow card also provided a perfectly sensible reason for making the half-time change.
But Eze has now presented his manager with an alternative.
Chelsea’s visit to the Emirates represents Arsenal’s first major home examination of their Premier League title defence, and Arteta must decide whether to retain Tzolis’ direct threat or introduce Eze from the start.
Eze offers a different profile.
His tendency to move inside can give Arsenal another technical presence alongside Martin Ødegaard and Declan Rice, while simultaneously creating space for Calafiori to attack beyond him.
Villa provided the first glimpse of how productive that relationship could become.
Arsenal’s new depth is already having an impact
Eze was not the only substitute to underline how many options Arteta now possesses.
Guimarães returned from injury and almost created a second Arsenal goal when he released Kai Havertz through on Zion Suzuki, only for the Villa goalkeeper to make the save.
Konsa also received minutes against his former club as Arsenal protected the advantage.
Those options are significant with Champions League football approaching and the demands on Arteta’s squad about to increase.
Read Arsenal has already looked at how the club’s enormous summer investment has changed the options available to Arteta in our piece on Arsenal’s £300m squad transformation.
Eze may now be the first of those additions to force another immediate change.
Arsenal did not need him from the start at Villa Park.
They needed something different after 45 minutes, Eze provided it, and Arteta now has a serious decision to make before Chelsea.
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