Though much has changed for the Villans, thanks to the sales of Emi Martinez, Ollie Watkins, Lucas Digne, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa and Morgan Rogers, Unai Emery would be looking for some of his new boys - Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Alejandro Garnacho, Matteo Ruggeri, Zion Suzuki, and Nicolas Jackson - to hit the ground running against the reigning champions.
Arsenal with the lion's share of the ball
With 12 wins from 19 home games last season, Villa certainly weren't going to make it easy for their opponents, and the first real chance fell to the hosts in the 12th minute when Emi Buendia hit the woodwork.
Though Arsenal had the lion's share of the early chances, none really troubled Suzuki on his debut, and even their 71% collective possession didn't really produce anything other than some pretty passing carousels.
Matty Cash and Ross Barkley were working overtime defensively, the former winning three of his four tackles attempted, and the latter successfully winning all three of his.
Ian Maatsen looked to be the busiest player on the pitch, too, but even though he'd end the game with 13 one-on-one duels attempted, the most of any player from either side, the winning of only three of them told a truer story as to his application on the night.
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Rice and Odegaard in control
The game flowed well, due in no small part to an excellent refereeing performance from Jarred Gillet, and the Gunners enjoyed some long periods of possession.
Declan Rice (92.2% success) and Martin Odegaard (93.2%) were imperious with their passing, and Villa's players could often only stand and watch as the ball was routinely played around them.
Perhaps the only real surprise was that neither side had enjoyed a single shot on target before the official blew the whistle for half-time.
Kai Havertz, often the difference maker for the North Londoners, had only touched the ball seven times before the break, and was on the periphery for the most part.
Saka the match winner
That he only managed one shot in the entire match was actually in keeping with how the game was panning out, with only Bukayo Saka managing more (two shots).
One of the Englishman's attempts resulted in what was the winning goal, a right-footed shot from inside the six-yard box just before the hour mark, after Riccardo Calafiori was allowed to get to the byline and get his cross away.
That goal only seemed to fire up the hosts, for whom Jackson was enjoying a great debut. The striker's three successful dribbles from four attempted and four successful one-on-one duels from five attempted highlighted his involvement.
His colleagues appeared to take their cue from him with Cash, Barkley and John McGinn all going close with efforts as Villa pressed hard for an equaliser.
No shots on target from Villa
However, after a flurry of substitutions, and by the 80-minute mark, the hosts still hadn't managed an effort on target.
In fact, once the whistle had blown, there was still a big zero in the shots on target column, and that's likely to have infuriated Emery.
His counterpart, Arteta, may have preferred an easier ride so early in the season, but his delight at full-time was evident.
The Spaniard would've been particularly pleased with Saka's output, and not just his goalscoring prowess.
Arsenal go joint-top, Villa go joint-bottom
18 one-on-one duels attempted, of which 12 were won, both aerial duels won, an 80.9% pass completion and six touches in the opposition box - the most of any player on the pitch - made him a worthy man-of-the-match.
Second in the table only on goals scored, it's been precisely the sort of start to the season that the Gunners will have wanted.
By contrast, two defeats from two have placed Villa at the bottom of the pile, and that has to be a concern for Emery, particularly when you consider the context of so much transfer upheaval.
With Champions League football starting shortly, the Villans can ill afford a slow start in the Premier League, which will see them playing catch-up from the get-go.
Jason Pettigrove has been the features writer for Flashscore since 2025, utilising Opta data to form the basis of his articles. He has previously worked for high profile football clubs, news and media outlets, both in print and digital, and can usually be found watching FC Barcelona when time permits. You can read more of his pieces here.
