Unai Emery is looking to upset his former club Arsenal for the second consecutive season when he takes his Aston Villa side to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
The Villans secured an impressive 2-0 win in this fixture last season and the defeat proved costly for Arsenal in the Premier League title race. Late goals from Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey left the Gunners with a miserable afternoon.
Having won their previous three matches, Villa will be looking to repeat last season’s heroics at the Emirates on Saturday, but face an invigorated Arsenal side fresh off the a narrow north London derby triumph against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday evening.
Two goals in the space of four minutes secured a comeback win that moved Arsenal to within four points of leaders Liverpool after having played a game more. Mikel Arteta will be hoping fellow Londoners Brentford can do him a favor when they host the Reds earlier in the day.
Here 90 minutes a guide to Arsenal in relation to Villa.
Arsenal vs Aston Villa H2H results (last five matches)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Arsenal |
Aston Villa |
|---|---|
|
Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham – 15.1.25 |
Everton 0-1 Aston Villa – 15.1.25 |
|
Arsenal 1-1 (3-5p) Man Utd – 01.12.25 |
Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham – 01.10.25 |
|
Arsenal 0-2 Newcastle – 01.07.25 |
Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester – 01.04.25 |
|
Brighton 1-1 Arsenal – 01.04.25 |
Aston Villa 2-2 Brighton – 30.12.24 |
|
Brentford 1-3 Arsenal – 01.01.25 |
Newcastle 3-0 Aston Villa – 26.12.24 |
|
Earth |
TV channel/live broadcast |
|---|---|
|
Great Britain |
Main Event Sky Sports, Premier League Sky Sports, Sky Ultra HD, Sky GO, Sky GO Extra, NOW TV |
|
United States |
fuboTV, UNIVERSO NOW, Peacock, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, UNIVERSO, NBC |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network Canada |
Arsenal’s injury problems are growing as is Gabriel Jesus sprained with an ACL injury against Manchester United in the FA Cup last weekend. The Brazilian will not feature again this season and the Gunners are short of attacking areas Bukayo Saka has also fallen for the foreseeable future.
Ethan Nwaneri has made an impressive impact in recent weeks but is currently in the treatment room, joining defensive absentees Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Riccardo Calafiori missed the north London derby with a muscle injury but could feature against Villa.
Predicted line-up of Arsenal against Aston Villa (4-3-3): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Trossard, Havertz, Martinelli.
Donyell Malen was Villa’s first signing of the January window and the former Borussia Dortmund winger arrives with high expectations. He could make his debut at the Emirates, although Emery may be tempted to offer him time to settle down.
John McGinn and Ross Barkley are still absent in the center of the park, potentially proving big misses for Villa in north London.
Emery is also without two of his senior centre-backs, with Pau Torres and Diego Carlos. The latter could leave Villa Park in January due to significant interest from Turkey.
Predicted line-up of Aston Villa vs Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; Kamara, Onana; Rogers, Tielemans, Ramsey; Watkins.
Arsenal have been unconvincing since Saka’s injury and Jesus’ absence for the rest of the season could force them into the transfer market as they looking for offensive reinforcements. The Gunners have struggled to convert their chances in recent weeks and relied on set pieces and defensive error to win against Spurs in midweek.
However, while Villa are in impressive form and boast some killer strikers, they have struggled to keep clean sheets recently. Their goal against Everton was their first in the Premier League since early December against Southampton.
Saturday’s late kick-off could be a wild affair as a result and Villa will fancy their chances of grabbing a point on their visit to north London.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-2 Aston Villa
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