When Unai Emery was Arsenal manager, he had the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette at his disposal. However, it did not work out for Emery at the Emirates Stadium.
Emery did take the Gunners to the Europa League final, but they lost 4-1 to Chelsea in that game. In his first season, Arsenal also finished fifth and just missed out on a Champions League place.
After a poor start to Emery's second season with the Gunners, he was sacked. Freddie Ljungberg took over temporarily before Mikel Arteta was appointed permanently. Arteta has done a great job with Arsenal, but he needs more silverware to be deemed a success.
Arteta has won the FA Cup as Arsenal manager, but the Premier League is where he is being judged. His side has been runners-up in the last three seasons. They have been up against very strong Manchester City and Liverpool sides that have pipped them at the post. This season, with the Gunners leading the division, appears to be their best bet to finally win the title.
The Gunners cannot afford slip-ups anymore if they are to keep their place at the top of the division. The last time they dropped points was at the start of the month, when they lost 2-1 to Aston Villa. The Gunners face Villa tonight, where they will come up against their former boss Emery once more.
Who does Unai Emery believe his Aston Villa side needs to keep an eye out for?
Emery has mentioned who his Villa side needs to be wary of in this fixture. He was quoted on Arsenal Insider saying, "Some players, they are coming back after being injured, like (Kai) Havertz and (Gabriel) Jesus, and of course, look and can see them now, stronger."
Viktor Gyökeres is taking his time getting up to speed in English soccer. He starred for Sporting CP last season, but has so far scored just five goals in 16 Premier League games this season. He also had a short spell out with a muscle problem, which meant that Mikel Merino had to fill in at center-forward once again.
Havertz and Jesus are both injury-prone and are not deemed forwards who will score 20+ goals a season. However, with Jesus yet to play this season, and Havertz being out since the opening day, they will be ready to make up for lost time. If Gyökeres is not firing, Havertz or Jesus could make the difference off the bench.