‘Total rubbish’- Mikel Arteta told £45m Arsenal player was a real ‘problem’ in Aston Villa defeat – Not Zinchenko

Gary Neville was particularly impressed with one of Arsenal’s performances after today’s worrying defeat to Aston Villa at the Emirates.

Mikel Arteta again proved his worth against the man he replaced, Unai Emery, who had just scored a double against the Gunners.

Arsenal started the game brilliantly and seemed to be in the mood to capitalise on Liverpool’s earlier mistakes and return to the top of the table.

However, after 90 minutes, the title race was out of Arsenal’s hands and they will now be counting on Man City to screw up.

In truth, Aston Villa were worthy of a 2-0 win today. Aston Villa now seem to be enjoying this match.

Ollie Watkins was everything that Gabriel Jesus was not, clinical and impeccable in his job.

And Arsenal struggled to find a performance that could match their colleagues in any position, and Martin Odegaard was even substituted as he chased the game.

Gary Neville thought Gabriel Jesus was very sloppy for Arsenal against Villa today

Neville watched the game for Sky Sports and was disappointed with Jesus’ performance in the first half.

According to the pundit, the £45million Brazilian should have made better use of a header chance at the far post early in the game, but then expressed his disappointment when he missed a pass straight ahead later on.

At the end of the first half, Neville said: “Gabriel Jesus was very uncomfortable in his own half in the first half.

“He kept shaking his head and wondering why he wasn’t passing. He always tries, but the problem right now is his imperfection.”

Of course, today was the perfect opportunity for Jesus to reclaim his role as Arsenal’s first striker.

And if this was an audition to start as Arsenal’s number nine against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, then fans can expect Kai Havertz to play as a false nine again.

Jesus was busy and clever at times, but ultimately inaccurate.

He looked like a player desperate to impress.

The season is not over for Arsenal, far from it. But today is a bitter blow to the title race.

And Mikel Arteta will need to use this disappointment as fuel for midweek.

Paul Merson believes Arsenal and Liverpool actually have the same “problem” right now.