Ex-Arsenal star Charlie Nicholas is predicting the Gunners defence will again be under scrutiny when his former side face Aston Villa tomorrow afternoon.

The TV pundit still believes that Unai Emery’s men will come out on top but he thinks the Villans will make life tough for the home side and will offer a big threat on the break:

“They need to sort themselves out in defence and if they are not good enough, you leave them out. Put Lucas Torreira in front of midfield.

“Aston Villa are vulnerable defensively, but can counter-attack with John McGinn and Jack Grealish, while Wesley is a handful up front. It should be comfortable but I don’t think it will be and there will be goals.”

Nicholas has gone for a high score, 4-2 to Arsenal, and with the Gunners having struggled so badly at the back in recent games, it is not a surprising prediction.

The odds are that Emery will select the exact same backline that conceded 31 shots against Watford last week, with Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin having played for the Under 23s last night and still unavailable.

As Nicholas rightly points out, it’s Arsenal’s midfield that needs to be sorted out as well. The lack of protection for the back four is a major concern and it will be interesting to see who the manager goes for in the middle of the park.