High expectations ... but glorious Gunners sweat on Fabregas

Arsenal 5 Aston Villa 0

He picked the wrong game: on days such as this, Arsenal fans must think they have already died and gone to heaven.

This was supposed to be the Gunners’ warm-up for Wednesday’s Champions League meeting with Juventus, but it turned out to be little more than a glorified warm-down from last Tuesday’s thunderous first-leg triumph. The passing was sparkling, the finishing emphatic and the movement mesmerising, but it was almost too easy. Villa’s performance was so feeble that Arsenal could afford to finish the game on cruise control. Such luxuries will not be afforded them in Italy.

“There was a danger of complacency,” admitted Wenger. “But will there be complacency at Juventus? No. The players are not stupid. After winning at Real Madrid, we went to Blackburn and lost so what we wanted was to win against Villa. That was the first target. The second target was to have no injuries.”

On that point, Arsenal were not so fortunate. Wenger’s already deeply-lined face was contorted into a frown when Francesc Fabregas, the teenager body who had so humbled Patrick Vieira four days previously, hobbled off early on with a foot injury. Then, in the second half, Emmanuel Eboué withdrew clutching his groin. Wenger rated both as “40-60” for Wednesday, although more will be known today when Arsenal receive the results of medical scans.

But they were not the only dark clouds which scudded across Wenger’s largely sunny horizon on Saturday. The other came in the form of renewed speculation that Thierry Henry’s summer move to Barcelona, long-mooted, has already been rubber-stamped.

On Saturday, when the Frenchman could have been excused a more restrained approach, he was a whirr of activity and when he was withdrawn mid-way through the second half with Juventus in mind, even the chastened Villa fans awarded him a standing ovation. Arsenal are not just playing for their Champions League futures on Wednesday: they are competing for the future of their captain and talisman.

“It will be a very difficult decision for him,” admitted the Brazilian midfielder Gilberto. “He’s been here such a long time and personally I think he likes the club and the club loves him.

“I think he has seen the progress of the team and that we are growing together. Of course it will count in our favour if we win the Champions League but even if it doesn’t work out for us I believe he’ll think long and hard because he knows Arsenal is a great club.”

Henry could be persuaded, too, by the emergence of a new golden generation in north London. The striker may have been the star turn on Saturday but he was assisted by an impressive supporting cast, not least his partner Emanuel Adebayor.

The leggy Togolese snaffled his third goal in four games with a 19th-minute header that squirmed past Aaron Hughes on the Villa goal-line and then set up Henry’s second strike with an outrageous back-heeled flick. Robin van Persie scored a goal of delightful impudence, dragging the ball away from the stricken Sorensen before lashing it into the roof of the net. Then Vassiriki Diaby struck his first Arsenal goal after being set up by an Adebayor pass.

It was another crushing blow for David O’Leary, whose grip on the manager’s job at Villa Park loosens with every passing week. The former Arsenal defender could have used some divine instruction after such a humbling afternoon, but by the time he emerged from Highbury’s inner sanctum, the man with the megaphone had gone.

Opta Fact: Thierry Henry became the first player to have scored 20 or more goals in five consecutive Premiership seasons.

Opta Fact: Villa have won none of their last 12 trips to play London sides in the capital.