Premier League: Aston Villa vs Arsenal Live
Preview
Aston Villa will face Arsenal at Villa Park in the Premier League, seeking to avenge last season’s defeat to Arsenal at Villa Park. Both teams secured narrow victories in their recent matches, with Arsenal defeating Manchester City 1-0 and staging a late comeback to beat Luton Town 4-3.
Emery had not won against Pep Guardiola in 13 previous managerial meetings, but his team dominated City in all aspects of the game, except possession. The hosts capitalized on their missed chances, with Bailey’s goal taking a significant deflection off Ruben Dias and finding the net. Despite a couple of quick chances for Erling Haaland, City, who were not at their best, left empty-handed. Villa, under Emery’s management, celebrated their 14th consecutive Premier League home win.
A 15th win would set a new club record for Villa, who have now moved ahead of City into third place and are posing a threat to the title race, trailing Liverpool by just two points and Arsenal by four. As Villa Park erupted in celebration, the defensive significance of Wednesday’s victory was overshadowed. Emery’s team ended a 10-game run without a clean sheet against the reigning champions, but a tougher challenge awaits on Saturday.
No Premier League team has left Luton’s modest Kenilworth Road boasting of dominating the Hatters. Arsenal, with a vulnerable defense, experienced the full force of a determined Rob Edwards-led team and conceded three goals to the newly-promoted visitors. Although David Raya made mistakes for two of the goals, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, and Declan Rice, with a last-minute header, secured a thrilling victory for Arsenal. Known for their thrilling late comebacks, Arsenal’s impressive seven-goal win maintained their two-point lead over Liverpool at the top of the table and extended their winning streak to six matches in all competitions.
Head-to-head
Arsenal has emerged victorious in their past three league encounters with Villa, with their latest meeting resulting in a 4-2 win.
Prediction
Villa has been very strong when playing at home and is not likely to make it easy for Emery’s former team. Arsenal’s defense did not perform well against Luton, and two mistakes by Raya made their game more tense than it should have been. Although it’s time for Villa to break their losing streak against the Gunners, they may not achieve a 15th consecutive Premier League home win, resulting in an entertaining draw.
