Gary Neville delivers honest verdict on Jurrien Timber's battle with Leon Bailey -

Jurrien Timber was handed his first Arsenal start in over a year during his side’s crucial 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday at Villa Park.

Last season, Aston Villa beat Arsenal home and away. It played a huge part in Mikel Arteta’s side missing out on the Premier League title.

One of the areas of concern was left-back and a player who haunted the London club was Leon Bailey – he assisted John McGinn for the only goal of the game at Villa Park and opened the scoring during the win at the Emirates.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, who started his side’s opening day win against Wolves, was the man who struggled and came under fire for his performances.

That’s why, leading up to the weekend’s match, there was a lot of talk about who Arteta should start at left-back, with many crying for Timber to start.

Arsenal fans got their wish because he was named in the XI and Gary Neville shared his thoughts on his performance up against Bailey and at Villa Park.

Timber played 79 minutes and it was Riccardo Calafiori who came on for his Arsenal debut, with Zinchenko not even used.

Neville admitted ‘I liked what Timber did’ and how he put in a strong display in difficult circumstances, as he told Sky Sports.

The Manchester United legend added that Timber, not only faired well up against a ‘difficult customer’ like Bailey, but he was also ‘confident’ on the ball.

Arsenal beat Aston Villa

“Some of the most successful transfer windows are when you keep stability in your squad, then you just add that one or two players just make it that final piece of the jigsaw,” said Neville.

“In these two games against Villa last season, left-back was a problem. We saw what Manchester City did. You could argue in the last eight or nine games of the season, Gvardiol’s impact from left-back was immense. Not just from a defensive point of view, but from an attacking point of view. His power, strength and his height. I think Arteta has reacted to that. He knows he has Timber coming back, but he has Calafiori as well who comes on.

“That’s definitely a response to what he needs from last season. You talk about these fine margins of one goal or two goals that can tip the title race your way. That could be against Villa. I like what Timber did. I thought Timber kept a pretty close eye on Leon Bailey because he is a difficult customer to play against. I thought he did a good job. He was confident on the ball. He looked good when he went into midfield. Still doing that job Zinchenko does.”

Jurrien Timber, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Riccardo Calafiori

It’s going to be interesting to see who Arteta now starts going forward and if Timber becomes a regular starter at left-back.

At the end of the day, Arsenal fans don’t know the true worth of Timber because he was injured and they didn’t get to see what impact he could have made last season.

You can’t see Calafiori starting yet because he has just walked through the doors, but Arsenal fans would probably prefer Timber to start.

Brighton are up next on home soil for the Gunners, but they have two more huge away matches coming up – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the Etihad.

Tottenham thrashed Everton over the weekend and they travel to St James’ Park at the weekend where their defence will be seriously tested. It will be a sign of what could come against Arsenal next month.