Eberechi Eze has hailed the impact of two of Arsenal's major summer signings after they played their part in the hard-fought 1-0 win over Aston Villa on Monday night

Eberechi Eze says Arsenal have got two new “warriors” to help them fight to retain the title.

Bruno Guimaraes and Ezri Konsa were both given their Arsenal debuts at Aston Villa after being brought in this summer for a total of £130m. They helped Arsenal grind out a victory to help the reigning champions maintain their perfect start to the campaign with two straight wins.

That will be put to the test in Sunday’s London derby with Chelsea who have also made an impressive 100 percent start to the campaign under new boss Xabi Alonso.

But Arsenal midfielder Eze believes the two new debutants will make Arsenal even stronger this season ahead of an early test of their credentials at the Emirates this weekend.

Eze said: “They're both special players. They have so much experience in the league and so much to bring to our team.

“You can see how strong they are. They're warriors. They're high quality on the ball as well. So it's great additions and people that will help us for sure.

“It’s not easy. Villa are a good team and they have good fans as well. You can sometimes get caught up in it. But we kept strong, kept doing what we're doing, and we continue believing in ourselves.”

Arsenal’s hard fought win must go down as a statement because they won at Villa who finished fourth last season, they won the Europa League and, despite a summer of change, Unai Emery’s men are back in the Champions League.

The Gunners are yet to concede a goal in either of their two Premier League games and also kept a clean sheet against Manchester City in the Community Shield.

Eze said: “We want to continue keeping clean sheets. That gives us a good platform to go off. It gives us a lot of freedom as attackers so that’s good.”

England star Eze also had a very different experience at Villa Park compared to last year. He was substituted at half time when they lost to Villa after Emiliano Buendia’s last-gasp winner. Eze took some blame for failing to track back on Matt Cash’s opening goal.

But this time, Eze came on for Christos Tzolis who was substituted at half time and it was Eze who made all the difference.

His strength and skill was crucial, he played a role in Bukayo Saka’s winner and overall formed a strong understanding with Riccardo Calafiori down the left.

Arsenal did start the summer trying to strengthen the left and Tzolis has made a strong start. But they may finish it with Eze looking a strong candidate to play from the left which he insists he is ready to embrace.

Eze said: “You always want to help the team. You always want to put in a good performance. Ultimately you want to affect the game and help the team win. That's the main thing whether you start or come on.

“I think it's all part of football. It's all part of the game, and you can have moments like that go the other way. So it's about staying focused, staying present, being as effective as you can be.

“And as I say, whether you start or come on, you want to be the best version of yourself to help the team. And I think that's what I try to do every time.

“You want to learn, you want to keep on building, you want to improve every year. That's the main thing.

“I think it's a different type of space, but ultimately it's just space that you're occupying. And sometimes I can find myself in a more comfortable position coming in from the left and being in that pocket there.

“So it's just about space, about finding yourself in nice positions to score. And if I'm inside or outside, that’s what I try to do.

“That's what the manager wants me to do. He wants me to affect the game and to be as effective as I can be, whether it's on the left or in the left pocket or on the right pocket, whatever it is.

“He wants me to affect the game and to be active. So as long as I'm on the pitch, I'm there and ready to do it.

“For sure, Riccardo is a special player. He's so creative. He can take up special positions that are awkward for teams to defend against. You try to work off him, and he works off me well. It's a good relationship. As long as we can continue to build on that, it's going to be effective.”