#AD, 18+ T&C apply!
Unai Emery takes his Villa side back to the team he managed in 2018/19 with a point to prove to the Arsenal fans, sacked after only 18 months in charge after a dismal run of results, victory at the Emirates would no doubt mean a lot to him as well as getting three valuable points Aston Villa.
Both teams have gone off the boil since the start of the season, but it is Arsenal who are finding their form again, sitting pretty at 2nd in the table compared to Villa in 8th place; this will be a match in which both managers will be desperate to win.
Arsenal were a little disappointing in their FA Cup defeat to Man Utd, but you can’t help thinking that the exit from that competition may not be such a bad thing because they are now able to concentrate on making ground up on Liverpool, who are heading the table.
Odds and Predictions
Most punters will have Arsenal down as the favourites for this encounter. It looks like the football betting sites agree, they have made Arsenal the favourites at 1.40, the odds on Villa are a massive 7.50 and the price for the draw is 4.50.
When we first looked at this fixture, we fancied Arsenal, but there are two factors that are putting us off: firstly, the odds of 1.40 are abysmal, and secondly, less than three days before this match, it is the North London Derby.
Villa also play on the same evening, so it is not as if they have an unfair advantage, but nevertheless, the North London Derby will take a lot out of the Arsenal players, and we feel that this will go in Villa’s favour.
With that in mind, for the first one of our predictions, the draw is the most likely outcome, and we feel that a 1 – 1 scoreline would be a good bet, at odds of 9.50, it certainly represents value in our eyes.
We also like the look of Ollie Watkins ‘To score at any time’, odds of 4.0 are outstanding for a player who is beginning to rediscover his form from earlier on in the season. We are happy to recommend this bet as the last one of our predictions for this match.
Comparison and Statistics
Arsenal and Aston Villa have played each other head-to-head a total of 204 times in their history. Arsenal have won 88 of these matches, Aston Villa have won 69 matches, and 47 matches have ended in a draw.
The last five H2H encounters have been pretty even, with both teams winning twice and one game ending in a draw.
| Past Meetings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Aug 2024 | aston-villa | 0-2 | arsenal | Premier League |
| 14 Apr 2024 | arsenal | 0-2 | aston-villa | Premier League |
| 09 Dec 2023 | aston-villa | 1-0 | arsenal | Premier League |
| 18 Feb 2023 | aston-villa | 2-4 | arsenal | Premier League |
| 31 Aug 2022 | arsenal | 2-1 | aston-villa | Premier League |
Expected Line Ups
The absence of Gabriel Jesus will be a blow for Arsenal. Don’t forget they are also without Bukayo Saka up front, so this game will be an ideal opportunity for Kai Havertz to show Mikel Arteta what he is made of.
For Aston Villa, Tielemans continues to impress, the midfield general is having a huge impact on games, when he plays well the rest of the team seem to gel and pose much more of a threat in the final third.
Arsenal (4-3-3): David Raya; R. Calafiori, Gabriel, W. Saliba, J. Timber; Declan Rice, M. Odegaard, Mikel Merino; G. Martinelli, L. Trossard, Kai Havertz.
Aston Villa (4-3-3): E. Martinez; Lucas Digne, Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa, Matty Cash; B. Kamara, Y. Tielemans; Jacob Ramsey, M. Rogers, Leon Bailey; Ollie Watkins.
How Will the Season Pan Out
All Arsenal can do is win games and hope that Liverpool slip up. Closing that gap of six points will be a big task, though, especially against a team as strong as Liverpool.
Looking at it another way, though, on any given match day, if Liverpool lose and Arsenal win, that gap is down to three points, and the race is on again.
Villa will be aiming for a top-six finish and a place in Europe next season, that goal is quite achievable whilst they have Unai Emery at the wheel.
