Arsenal managers past and present collide in the West Midlands on Saturday evening, when the Gunners make the trip to tackle Unai Emery's Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Both sides have three points on the board after one outing, as the Lions edged out West Ham United 2-1 on the opening weekend, while Mikel Arteta's team put two unanswered goals past Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Match preview
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Had Jhon Duran got his way earlier in the transfer window, the Colombian striker would be donning a different shade of claret than the one he currently sports, having teased a move to West Ham on social media before a deal ultimately fell through.
Duran watched on for an hour at the London Stadium last weekend as a Lucas Paqueta penalty cancelled out Amadou Onana's opening goal, and after Emery's men wasted a few opportunities to restore their advantage, Duran appropriately hammered the nail into the Hammers' coffin 11 minutes from time.
The fledgling forward celebrated his winner by pointing at the London Stadium turf in front of the Villa fans - a gesture that likely signalled his intent to stay with Emery's side rather than remain at West Ham's ground - as he snapped the Lions' four-match winless sequence in the Premier League.
Based on the volume of chances they created, Villa should have put Julen Lopetegui's men to the sword without the need for the South American's late intervention, but the Lions are now on the cusp of opening a Premier League season with back-to-back wins for just the fourth time.
Formerly prevailing in an astonishing 15 Premier League games in a row at their home ground in 2023, Emery's side have since lost their consistency on their own patch in terms of victories, but not goals, having scored at least twice in their last eight matches at Villa Park.
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Speaking of teams scoring multiple times in front of their own fans, Arsenal's inaugural game of 2024-25 saw them host a Wolves side whom they had scored against in 33 successive matches, a streak that became 34 when Kai Havertz nodded in Bukayo Saka's delivery.
The Arsenal of old appeared to be back for a brief moment, though, as Arteta's men initially failed to build on that slender advantage and allowed Gary O'Neil's team back into the contest, but another Havertz-Saka link-up in the second half ended with the latter beating Jose Sa at his near post.
Arsenal have and will continue to march to more convincing wins than last weekend's, although some of Arteta's troops may have still been shaking off the summer cobwebs, and keeping Wolves at bay ensured that their Premier League winning sequence would stretch to a praiseworthy seven matches.
Also boasting the away-day specialists label in the Premier League, Arsenal have accrued an astounding 25 points from a possible 27 in top-flight games on the road in 2024, keeping seven clean sheets in those nine matches and shipping just three goals in total.
However, Villa were the only team to achieve a Premier League double over Arsenal last season - winning 1-0 at home before a shock 2-0 Emirates success - meaning that one-time Gunners manager Emery has the visitors' number in more ways than one.
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Eight minutes before full time in Villa's beating of West Ham, right-back Matty Cash was taken off and appeared to have taken a knock to the top of his leg, although Emery did not mention any problem for the defender after the game.
Regardless, backup right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic is waiting in the wings, although if Cash does miss out, Emery may side with experience and move Ezri Konsa to right-back, allowing Diego Carlos - despite being linked with a move away - to come back into the heart of defence.
Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings are still on the mend from serious knee injuries for Villa, who ought to consider promoting Duran to the first XI; the 20-year-old averages a goal every 103 minutes in the Premier League, second only to Erling Haaland - one every 85 - for all current players with at least five goals in the competition.
Arsenal were also forced into a late alteration during their win over Wolves, as Declan Rice succumbed to cramp a few minutes before the end, but the English midfielder is expected to be given the thumbs-up to line up at Villa Park.
Fabio Vieira (hip) may also recover in time for the trip to the West Midlands, but full-back duo Kieran Tierney (hamstring) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) still have several weeks to go in their respective recoveries.
Fresh from his goal and assist in the Wolves victory, Havertz is bidding to banish some personal demons on Saturday, as the ex-Chelsea striker has never scored or set up a teammate in seven previous Premier League meetings with Villa, his worst record against a single English top-flight side.
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Bailey, Tielemans, Onana, McGinn; Watkins, Duran
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
We say: Aston Villa 1-1 Arsenal
Fourteen wins at Villa Park is Arsenal's joint-most at an away Premier League venue, but the Gunners were fortunate not to have been punished for some sloppy play against Wolves, where they were not at their scintillating best.
Arteta's men can always be backed to keep things watertight - or close to watertight - in defence, but with Duran and Ollie Watkins carrying a potent threat up front for Villa, we can envisage Saturday's contest ending in a hotly-contested draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
