Football commentary, Arsenal vs Aston Villa odds, Premier League

In an effort to maintain the top spot in the Premier League, Arsenal will welcome Aston Villa and former coach Unai Emery to the Emirates.

PRE-MATCH COMMENTARY

Coach Mikel Arteta’s team is leading the Premier League rankings with only 7 rounds left in the season. The Gunners are aiming for their first Premier League title in 20 years.

The North London team is also aiming for the Champions League Semifinals after holding Bayern Munich to a draw in the first leg in midweek.

On the away side, Villa fell out of the top 4 after a draw with Brentford last weekend. However, they still have a gap of up to 11 points compared to Manchester United in sixth place. Ollie Watkins and John McGinn helped Unai Emery’s team gain an advantage over Lille, in the Europa Conference League match in midweek.

Aston Villa shocked Arsenal with a score of 1-0 last December, thanks to a goal from John McGinn. Arsenal lost two more matches in December 2023 but have yet to taste defeat in the Premier League in 2024.

FORCE TWO TEAMS

Jurrien Timber is the only player absent from Arsenal ‘s squad .

The Dutch defender ruptured his cruciate ligament in the opening match of the Premier League. Although coach Arteta announced that he had “returned to training” last week, Timber is still not fit to play.

Villa , the team that is competing for tickets to the Champions League, has a quite long list of ‘sick soldiers’. Coach Unai Emery will not have the services of: Matty Cash, Clement Lenglet, Tyrone Mings, Jacob Ramsey, Boubacar Kamara and Emi Buendia in the match against Arsenal.

Douglas Luiz was also suspended after receiving his tenth yellow card this season.

Villa’s hopes will be placed on Ollie Watkins. This striker scored 2 goals in last weekend’s match and continued to score against Lille. The English striker has 18 goals and 10 assists this season.