MX23RW : Monday, November 25 11:19:10| >> :120:5703:5703:

Arsene Wenger applauds Aston Villa's youthful approach

Arsene Wenger says that Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert is planning for the future by investing heavily in youth at Villa Park.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has drawn parallels between his team and Aston Villa ahead of their Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium.

The Frenchman believes that the Villans are starting to see results of the investment in youth driven by manager Paul Lambert since he took over from Alex McLeish.

In addition to having one of the youngest squads in the league, not one of the Scot's summer purchases - Aleksandar Tonev, Jores Okore, Antonio Luna, Nicklas Helenius, Leandro Bacuna and Jed Steer - is over the age of 23.

"If you look at our team, from [Wojciech] Szczesny up to [Theo] Walcott up front, we are the only team in the top four that has brought these sorts of players through - players who have started in the Premier League with us," Wenger told the club's official website.

"Nobody else has done it recently but Aston Villa are starting to do that as well now. They plan for the future and, in today's market, it's the only way for them to be successful. For me they have bought well this summer and they had some strength at the end of the season anyway that gave them some consistent results.

"They are a team that is very dangerous on the counter-attack with [Andreas] Weimann and [Gabriel] Agbonlahor and they bought Tonev who looks quite creative. So we need a solid performance to win this game as it's important we start well."

Two goals from Santi Cazorla helped the Gunners to a 2-1 victory in this fixture last season.

ID:99047: cacheID:99047:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3208:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert during his side's match with Manchester United on April 22, 2013
Read Next:
Lambert: 'New boys will hit ground running'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!