Aston Villa, under the tutelage of Unai Emery, has gained massive reputation for having one of the best home records in the Premier League, winning 14 consecutive games at Villa Park. This run started in March 2023 with a narrow win over Crystal Palace (1-0), and what followed were wins over Bournemouth (3-0), Nottingham Forest (2-0), Newcastle (3-0), Fulham (1-0), Tottenham (2-1) and Brighton (2-1), which saw Aston Villa finish in an impressive seventh place at the end of the campaign.
Aston Villa’s mazy run of 10 victories from their last 15 Premier League matches of the season was a great feat, as it allowed them to qualify for the last available European spot ahead of the likes of Tottenham and Chelsea. A run so good, that they have replicated the same form this season, qualifying for the next round of the UEFA Conference League with a game to spare.
Unai Emery and his Aston Villa side continued their home winning streak this season, starting with a 4-0 win over Everton, and followed up with victories over Crystal Palace (3-1), Brighton (6-1), West Ham (4-1), Luton (3-1), Fulham (3-1) and the most impressive victory of the run, the 1-0 win over Manchester City that saw them have 22 shots, to Man City’s two, which was the lowest ever recorded from a Pep Guardiola team in his 595 matches managed thus far.
Guess who defeated Aston Villa at home before this unprecedented run started? Oh, you guessed right – Arsenal.
Arsenal’s last match at Villa Park in February 2023 was pure cinema, starting with Ollie Watkins scoring early in the game. Bukayo Saka equalized for the Gunners, but some poor defending from Ben White allowed Philippe Coutinho to put the Villans ahead going into half time. The second half saw the Gunners rally with Oleksandr Zinchenko scoring the equalizer, which turned out to be his maiden Arsenal goal. Late on, a Jorginho shot bounced off Emiliano Martinez to win it for Arsenal. The points were secured when Gabriel Martinelli scored from a counter after Martinez went to attack a corner.
Both Aston Villa and Arsenal have gone into the new season in very good form, with the home side currently in third place, which is a testament of the great things Emery is doing in the club. They are a far cry from the tactically inept team that languished in the lower echelons of the table under Steven Gerrard.
To team news, Aston Villa would be looking to welcome Bertrand Traore back to the fold after a lengthy spell out of action, while their long term absentees, Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings, are still recuperating from knee surgeries. We could see the likes of Matty Cash and Moussa Diaby return to the starting XI after missing out on the Man City game for tactical reasons. Arsenal, on the other hand, has a fresh injury concern, with Takehiro Tomiyasu set to miss at least four to six weeks following a calf strain. Arsenal are already without Jurrien Timber, Thomas Partey, Fabio Vieira and Emile Smith Rowe.
Arsenal will go into this game with Mikel Arteta on the stands after garnering three yellow cards, but I’m certain he will still be able to communicate with the coaching staff in the dugout, as he watches the game from there. Arteta will know that he has a fight on his hands today following the quotes from Unai Emery in his press conference,
“I’m going to be very deeply analysing how we can face the match tomorrow, hopefully being better in our performances individually and collectively. How we finished the match on Wednesday is very important because they did an amazing effort, but a hard effort.
“If you want to play at this level, playing against the best teams in the world in the Premier League, the challenge is very hard. Our ambition is for an exciting moment with our supporters with the rivals we want to face and how we can face them. Tomorrow is another step ahead, playing against maybe the best team in this season in the Premier League.”
This is certainly going to be an exciting match and I trust the fans to brace themselves for some quality football on display.
Aston Villa and Arsenal Predicted Lineups
Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Kamara, Luiz; Tielemans, McGinn; Bailey, Watkins.
Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
Injury / Suspension Updates
Aston Villa: Tyrone Mings, Emiliano Buendia (knee)
Arsenal: Jurrien Timber, Emile Smith Rowe (knee), Thomas Partey (thigh), Fabio Vieira (groin), Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf)
Form Guide
Aston Villa
- Last Five Games: W D W W W
- Last Result: Aston Villa 1-0 Manchester City (Bailey 74′)
- Leading Goalscorer: Ollie Watkins (13)
Arsenal Form
- Last Five Games: W W W W W
- Last Result: Luton Town 3-4 Arsenal (Osho 24?, Adebayo 48?, Barkley 56? | Martinelli 19?, Jesus 44?, Havertz 59?, Rice 97?)
- Leading Goalscorer: Bukayo Saka (8)
Gooner Daily predicts a 2 – 1 win.
Follow Gooner Daily on Twitter @goonerdaily.
Visit Gooner Daily’s Facebook page.
Click on the “Follow button” to join Gooner Daily’s Mailing List
