Five reasons to be cheerful as a Villa fan vs Arsenal

Aston Villa’s 3-1 triumph at the Emirates extended their winning run to five games, having finished pre-season strongly. One of the best counter-attacking teams in the first half of the year, Villa were irresistible on the break with Benteke, Weimann and Agbonlahor running riot against Arsenal. If they can sort out the home form, this season could get very interesting.

1. Of course, the main reason for cheer during preseason was Christian Benteke staying with the club by signing a new contract and against Arsenal, he continued where he left off from last season.

Second season syndrome? Opposition defences will work him out? The only thing opposition managers would have learnt about Benteke is he is unplayable. You could man-mark him, but chances are, your marking defender will be left in a crumpled heap on the pitch, or worse, suffer broken bones as the Malaga defender found out in pre-season.

I remember being at a Paris St Germain vs Lyon game in Paris, shortly after John Carew came to Villa from Lyon. A Lyon supporter informed me about Carew’s attitude problem and his tendency not to always be present in games. “If you can get Carew to play, you will be invincible,” he told me. Carew had his fair share of good moments at Villa, but ultimately his temperament let him down, as the Lyon fan had warned. Benteke has no such problems. He may not make Villa invincible (just yet), but he gives Villa a chance against any team.