Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has spoken highly of Aston Villa, as quoted in The Birmingham Mail.
Arteta believes that Villa are a team who want to play football, and has added that Dean Smith’s side have been unlucky due to no fans being able to attend games at the moment.
The Arsenal head coach has said that Villa Park is one of his favourite grounds, and he believes that lack of fans cheering the team has played a role in their struggles in recent times.
Arteta made the comments ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League game against Villa away from home at Villa Park on Tuesday evening.
The Birmingham Mail quotes Arteta as saying about Villa: “In my opinion, they have been very unlucky in a lot of games. It’s a team that wants to play football, that makes it really difficult for their opponent when they have the ball.
“I think the fans not being in the ground, which is one of my favourites in England, is a big disadvantage for them.
“We really need to be careful that they are alive and you can see that in the last few games that I’ve watched of them. We better be ready.”
Relegation worries
Villa are in real danger of getting relegated to the Championship at the end of the season and have to pick up all three points against Arsenal on Tuesday evening.
The Villans are currently third from bottom in the league table with 31 points from 36 matches.
Smith’s side are three points behind 17th-placed Watford and six points behind 16-placed West Ham.
However, the Gunners are in good form, and it is going to be extremely tough for the Villans to win against them.
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