'Looked really strong': Gary Neville shares verdict on Riccardo Calafiori's Arsenal debut against Aston Villa

Arsenal bounced back from two defeats to Aston Villa last season by beating Unai Emery’s men 2-0 on Saturday evening.

The Gunners were beaten twice by Villa last season; 1-0 at Villa Park and 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

Those results proved crucial in the Premier League title race and Arsenal had to show some improvement this time around.

David Raya’s unbelievable save was arguably the highlight for Arsenal but Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey found the net to secure a 2-0 win.

It may still be August but this feels like a real statement win for Arsenal having encountered problems with Villa last season.

Gary Neville on Riccardo Calafiori debut

Arsenal were able to see out the game with another clean sheet, which has almost become the standard under Mikel Arteta.

The Spaniard made a change to his back line before kick-off as Jurrien Timber came in for Oleksandr Zinchenko at left back.

Timber isn’t quite ready for 90 minutes though and Riccardo Calafiori was introduced for the final stages.

Calafiori was handed his Arsenal debut as a substitute and made himself immediately popular with Gunners fans by clashing with Emiliano Martinez.

The Italian wasn’t troubled too much on his Premier League debut but he did enough to earn praise from pundit Gary Neville.

Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, Neville noted that Calafiori ‘looked combative’ and ‘really strong’ in his cameo against Villa.

Neville was impressed with how Calafiori looked ‘up for the fight’, even in a quite literal sense with Martinez, but believes that the new Arsenal defender won’t be overawed by the physicality of the Premier League.

“Calafiori, when he came on, looked combative,” said Neville. “He looked really strong, he looked like he was up for the fight. Obviously, he had a little bit with Emi Martinez down here, so he’s got that little bit of spirit about him,” he added.

Arsenal’s left back competition ramping up

Zinchenko started against Wolves last weekend but was dropped to the bench in favour of Timber at Villa Park.

Timber impressed and will be looking to keep his place in the side but still faces major competition – and not just from Zinchenko.

Calafiori has been brought in from Bologna as a player who can play at left back and centre back whilst Jakub Kiwior possesses the same versatility.

Calafiori is already impressing in training having been praised by Ben White and goalkeeper David Raya.

Arteta is truly spoilt for choice at left back and whilst Calafiori may be gradually eased in with substitute appearances, it won’t be long until he is banging on the door for starting action.