How will the Gunners compensate for their absences?
Unai Emery is a brilliant coach and tactician. Time and again, the Spaniard demands resilience from his team, which will also be necessary in the Aston Villa vs. Arsenal tip. The home side have already proven their resilience this season.
Following a turbulent summer, Emery’s team got off to a completely disastrous start to the season. Fans had to wait until the fifth matchday for their first goal of the season. The first Premier League win did not come until the sixth matchday against Fulham (3-1). Since then, the hosts have been on the rise, winning eight of their previous nine PL games leading up to the Aston Villa vs. Arsenal prediction.
Just before the top match between the third-placed team and the Gunners, striker Ollie Watkins is back in form and scored his first two goals of the current Premier League season in the recent 4-3 away win against Brighton.
Unai Emery took over as manager of the Villans in 2022. The home form under his guidance has been nothing short of incredible at times. Of their previous 25 Premier League home games, the third-placed team has lost only one. You should take this quality into account when comparing the Aston Villa – Arsenal betting odds.
On the other side, Mikel Arteta is worried about several key players. The two injured center backs, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, are expected to remain sidelined. In the worst case, Cristhian Mosquera and Declan Rice, who both had to be substituted against Brentford (2-0), will also be unavailable.
Aston Villa – Arsenal Head-to-head record / H2H record
It is striking how difficult the Gunners have found it against Unai Emery and his team in recent years. Arsenal have won only one of their four previous Premier League encounters. Arteta’s side lost two of the other three matches.
In addition, the visitors have not won their last two Premier League away games. First, Arsenal dropped two points against Sunderland (2-2), then they only managed a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea. A win is once again in the balance at Villa Park.
Aston Villa – Arsenal Tip
Set pieces must be taken into account in every game involving the Gunners. Arsenal have scored the most expected goals from set pieces in the league (8.01 set-piece xG) and are the only Premier League team to have scored in double figures from set pieces (10).
It’s worth taking a look at the other side. Aston Villa is potentially vulnerable to every set piece from the league leaders. Only three teams have conceded more expected goals from set pieces than the hosts (6.27 set-piece xGA) in the current PL season.
In return, Emery’s team’s offense has improved dramatically recently, scoring at least four goals in two of their last four matches. Both Bournemouth (4-0) and Brighton (4-3) were not walk-in customers, but candidates for European competition.
Arsenal travel to one of the most dangerous places in the Premier League with a number of injury concerns and in the middle of a demanding phase of the season. In addition, Arteta’s side have only kept one clean sheet in their last four Premier League games. We expect excitement, goals and an entertaining top-of-the-table clash in which the league leaders could potentially stumble.
