Seeking another scalp at his former stomping ground, Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery takes his Lions side to the Emirates to face Arsenal in Saturday evening's Premier League contest.
Both sides were victorious in the midweek round of matches, as the Gunners claimed a critical 2-1 North London derby win over Tottenham Hotspur, while Villa subjected David Moyes to a 1-0 loss on his Everton homecoming.
Match preview
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Several times already this season Arsenal have failed to capitalise on mistakes from their title rivals, but after Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Liverpool all let points slip from their grasp on Tuesday, Mikel Arteta's men did not let another golden opportunity pass them by.
On the back of consecutive EFL Cup and FA Cup defeats, Arsenal welcomed a Spurs side boasting back-to-back wins in the knockout competitions, but form inevitably went out of the window as Dominic Solanke's own goal and Leandro Trossard's strike rendered Son Heung-min's opener meaningless.
A plethora of promising attacks petered out in the second half for Arsenal - further highlighting their need for a ruthless finisher in the January window - but Arteta's men never looked in danger of losing their slender lead and have returned to the runners-up position in the Premier League table.
Furthermore, the gap to leaders Liverpool has been cut down to four points - although the Reds still have their game in hand against Everton to come next month - and the Gunners are now officially the best team in the Premier League when it comes to home form alone.
Indeed, Arteta's men have taken an unrivalled 24 points from a possible 30 at their Emirates headquarters, where they are still unbeaten in the Premier League this season, although few Gooners will need reminding of the game that ultimately cost them the title in 2023-24.
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Already completing his Arsenal revenge mission after his premature 2019 departure, Emery delivered the killer blow to the Gunners' Premier League hopes last April, masterminding a 2-0 triumph for Villa in what remains the hosts' most recent top-flight loss on home soil.
Replicating that result this time around is not beyond the realm of possibility for the West Midlands side, who have condemned their awful autumnal period to history and head to North London fresh from a third win on the bounce in all competitions.
After beginning 2025 with back-to-back 2-1 wins over Leicester City and West Ham United in the league and FA Cup respectively, Villa also prevailed by a one-goal margin at Goodison Park on Wednesday, where Ollie Watkins condemned Moyes to a losing start to his second spell as Everton boss.
As a result, Emery's seventh-placed side find themselves just three points adrift of the Champions League positions, and victory on Merseyside ended an abysmal away run for the Lions, who had previously lost five straight Premier League games on rival territory while failing to keep a single clean sheet since their Emirates success last April.
However, Arsenal have already avenged that devastating defeat with a 2-0 success of their own at Villa Park in August - still the Lions' only Premier League home loss of the campaign to date - and righting the wrongs of last season's home humbling would see them pass another massive test of their title credentials.
Team News
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Wednesday's win over Tottenham marked Arsenal's first game since Gabriel Jesus's gut-wrenching ACL injury, one that will undoubtedly keep him out for the rest of the season as Arsenal search far and wide for January additions.
Jesus is one of five guaranteed Arsenal absentees on Saturday alongside Bukayo Saka (hamstring), Ethan Nwaneri (muscle), Ben White (knee) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), while Riccardo Calafiori is facing a race against time to recover from a muscular problem.
If the latter does not make the cut, local lad Myles Lewis-Skelly should retain his place at left-back after an inspired display in the North London derby, but Raheem Sterling failed to make the same sort of impact and will surely cede his spot to Gabriel Martinelli.
As for Aston Villa, Emery is expected to remain without Pau Torres (foot), Ross Barkley (calf) and John McGinn (thigh) for the time being, and the ex-Arsenal boss also claimed that defender Diego Carlos is suffering from "a small injury" before the Everton win.
However, the Brazilian publicly refuted Emery's claim on social media amid speculation that he could be sold to Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce; speaking of transfers, Jaden Philogene was announced as an Ipswich Town loan player on Wednesday night.
Jhon Duran still awaits his first Premier League minutes of 2025 - he was an unused substitute at Goodison Park after completing his suspension - but die-hard Arsenal fan Watkins, scorer of Villa's second at the Emirates last season, will surely retain his place up front.
Saturday's showdown could also see Donyell Malen make his Villa debut against the club he represented as a youth player from 2015 to 2017, but the new signing from Borussia Dortmund should not come into contention for a start straight awa.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Martinelli, Havertz, Trossard
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; Kamara, Onana; Rogers, Tielemans, Bailey; Watkins
We say: Arsenal 1-1 Aston Villa
Arsenal's beating of Spurs in midweek might have been merited, but the lack of a clinical striker is still sticking out like a sore thumb, and they may not create such a large volume of chances against a more defensively-sound Aston Villa outfit.
The Gunners should not be in any danger of losing their unbeaten home league record, but Emery's in-form side are more than capable of taking a point back to Villa Park as Arsenal are sent crashing back down to earth.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
