Aston Villa v Arsenal: Expect Gunners to bounce back from midweek loss

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Aston Villa v Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 12.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Arsenal
1pt 29-20 Betfred, Hills

Team news

Aston Villa
Lucas Digne, Kourtney Hause and Marvelous Nakamba are out, Douglas Luiz and Calum Chambers should be fit.

Arsenal
Takehiro Tomiyasu is a doubt for Gunners but Emile Smith Rowe has been cleared to play after a minor injury.

Match preview

Steven Gerrard and Mikel Arteta enjoyed many a battle over a decade and more patrolling Premier League midfields but the Spaniard can claim the upper hand when they cross swords this time from the technical area.

Arteta, grumpy as hell that his side are even playing this game less than three days after losing 2-0 at home to Liverpool, should still have enough at his disposal that the Gunners can come away from Villa Park with the win to cement their status as favourites for fourth spot.

Villa's record against the division's big boys should certainly encourage punters to believe the visitors are the bet.

The West Midlands outfit have played 11 matches against the eight sides currently above them in the table and lost to every single one of them with the exception of Manchester United. They have taken four points out of a possible six off United, none out of a possible 27 off the rest.

It's a sequence which includes a 3-1 drubbing at Arsenal in October, admittedly pre-Gerrard but still playing to a theme.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have won 16 and lost just two of 21 showdowns with sides outside the top five.

Back to Villa, who have won just four of their last 12 in all competitions, and those four were against Everton, Brighton, Southampton and Leeds.

Gerrard has improved Villa since Dean Smith's time, certainly with the winter arrivals of Lucas Digne and Philippe Coutinho, but they are a class mid-table club, who can beat those below them but look held by those above. And one of those key recruits – Digne – is out.

Arteta may fear Arsenal lack a spark given their current workload, but Villa looked short of imagination at West Ham on Sunday, when they lost 2-1, only coming to life after the Hammers had taken a 70th minute lead.

Arsenal have been in outstanding nick with nine wins in 11 Premier League matches before they succumbed to Liverpool on Wednesday night, a 2-0 loss in which they gave as good as they got for long periods.

The Arsenal boss might be concerned about fatigue but he has got so many attacking options at his disposal and Gabriel Martinelli was a superstar against Jurgen Klopp's men, frightening the life out of Trent Alexander-Arnold time and time again.

They have won their last four road trips, the pick of which was a 1-0 triumph at Wolves, and there is no doubt Arteta's slow and painful rebuild is coming good.

All eyes will be on the keepers. Emi Martinez has blossomed since leaving the Emirates 18 months ago, while Aaron Ramsdale has shone since arriving there in August. He made a mistake against Liverpool and the fact that it was noteworthy says everything about the standards he has sustained.

Seventeen of Villa's 28 matches have produced over 2.5 goals which is a 5-6 shot and since Arsenal rank third in shots on target per game this season, that isn't a bad price.

Key stat

Aston Villa have lost nine of 11 matches played against the current top eight.

Inside info

Aston Villa

Penalty taker Danny Ings
Free-kick wizard Philippe Coutinho
Set-piece aerial threat Ollie Watkins
Card magnet Tyrone Mings/Matty Cash

Arsenal

Penalty taker Alexandre Lacazette
Free-kick wizard Martin Odegaard
Set-piece aerial threat Thomas Partey
Card magnet Gabriel

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