Aston Villa host Arsenal in a mouthwatering clash at Villa Park on Saturday, with the Gunners out for revenge.
WATCH ASTON VILLA v ARSENAL LIVE
Villa beat Arsenal home and away last season and that was the difference in Arsenal winning the title and finishing in second. Villa dug deep to win 2-1 at West Ham on the opening weekend as Unai Emery has strengthened his squad sensibly this summer and everybody connected with the club is looking forward to Champions League football. Ollie Watkins in particular loves facing Arsenal and his battle against William Saliba and Gabriel will be crucial.
Arsenal beat Wolves 2-0 at home on the opening weekend to showcase their class as they eased to victory and both Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka were on target. Mikel Arteta’s side look fired up and hungry and after two-straight second place finishes, they aim to finally overhaul Manchester City and win the Premier League title. Is this the season they finally win the title again?
How to watch Aston Villa vs Arsenal, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 12:30pm ET, Saturday (August 24)
Venue: Villa Park
TV channel: USA Network
Streaming: Watch live on NBC.com
Aston Villa team news, focus
Villa looked solid in their opening weekend win against West Ham with new signing Amadou Onana popping up with a big goal and playing really well in midfield. Villa need that, as the departure of Douglas Luiz to Juventus this summer left a big gap in defensive midfield. Emiliano Martinez, Ezri Konsa and Watkins are all looking sharp after promising summers with their international teams and we know exactly what we’re going to get from Emery’s Villa as they will dig in and be ruthless on the counter.
OUT: Boubacar Kamara (knee), Tyrone Mings (knee) | QUESTIONABLE: Robin Olsen (face)
Arsenal team news, focus
The Gunners took their time to get the second goal in their win against Wolves last time out and the biggest thing Mikel Arteta will want to see his side improve is their ruthlessness in front of goal. That was an issue for them against Villa last season as they lost both games and with both teams having a very distinctive style of play, there is a real sense that Villa match up very well against this Arsenal side.
OUT: Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Kieran Tierney (thigh) | QUESTIONABLE: Fabio Vieira (groin)
Aston Villa vs Arsenal Forest prediction
This has all the makings of a classic Premier League encounter and it feels like Villa will look to make a statement early in the season that they’re pushing for another top four finish. Expect plenty of goals, but Arsenal’s extra quality should just make the difference. Aston Villa 2-3 Arsenal.
