Arsenal crashed to a second successive Premier League defeat as Ollie Watkins’ early goal fired Aston Villa to a 1-0 win on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta’s side fell behind after just 74 seconds at Villa Park and were unable to muster a convincing response.
Arsenal lost at Wolves on Tuesday and have now gone three league games without a victory.
The Gunners are languishing in 10th place, nine points adrift of the top four as their faint hopes of Champions League qualification look less realistic by the day.
When Arsenal faced Villa in November, they suffered a lacklustre 3-0 defeat that sent them sliding towards the relegation zone.
Although Arsenal had managed to claw their way back up the table, eighth-placed Villa once again showed the flaws that still plague Arteta’s men.
Arsenal, badly lacking a cutting edge, have scored just once in their last three matches and retain a fatal inability to stay focused at the back.