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The ruthless three-horse Premier League title race takes its latest twist this weekend as ambitious Aston Villa arrive at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
We have beaten Villa in five of our last six home games and improving on that record is vital if we are to stay on top going into the final six games of the season. However, the demands of this season are much more difficult and this Villa side is easily the best of the past 15 years.
Unai Emery’s side will be chasing a league double at our expense to fulfill their dream of playing in the Champions League for the first time, while we will turn our attention away from the battle with Bayern Munich to ensure we stay at the top of the table .
Villa’s form threatens top four hopes
Just one win in their last five league games has put Villa’s European dreams in jeopardy and, although they are still good enough for promotion in fifth place, Emery will be ambitious to get back into their all-time automatic qualification position. Impressive campaign for the most part.
An excellent start saw them win 12 of their first 17 games, including a 1-0 defeat against us in December, meaning Villa end 2023 in second place. However, four defeats since then have seen them slip out of the title race, and last week’s 3-3 draw with Brentford left Tottenham in the all-important fourth spot.
Ollie Watkins’ goal was crucial, as he scored a league-high 15 goals in the dry battle. Villa opened the scoring against Lille in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday night, taking his tally to 25 goals in all competitions ahead of next week’s first leg against northern France. 2-1 lead.
What did the manager say?
Arteta is Villa: “What they have done since Unai joined. He has had a huge impact on the club in terms of performances and consistency and what they have done is unbelievable. They are still competing in Europe and last night game, so it’s really impressive what they did.
“[Our momentum] It’s really good and we want to continue it. It’s the most beautiful part of the season and the schedule is very busy.We’re going to go through a very difficult time [game] Against a really good team, do we have to be really good to beat them. Read every word from Mikel’s pre-match press conference
Emery: “This is different [to the previous meeting], completely different. Compared to what we’re playing on Sunday, we played at home at Villa Park in December.
“It’s somewhat similar because there are a lot of players playing again and fighting in these teams, but different because we’re playing at the Emirates and we’re playing in a different context and now they’re fighting for Premier League trophies.
“We’re fighting hard behind them to try to hold on to our fifth position now and fight against Tottenham. It’s different too because, of course, some players are injured and won’t be able to play on Sunday.
Team news
Our only concern is Jurrien Timber, who is out with a knee injury on the opening weekend of the season.
Douglas Luiz is suspended after accumulating 10 yellow cards this season, leaving Emery in trouble in midfield, Boubacar Kamara is out for the season with an ACL injury and Jacob Ramsey has a toe injury.
Clement Lenglet is injured and Matty Cash has missed the past three games with a hamstring issue, but both returned to training this week and will be evaluated. Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Buendia have both missed the entire season with serious knee injuries.
talking tactics
Adrian Clark, Writing In the official match day program: Emery likes his teams to form in a 4-2-3-1, 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2, and no matter which formation he adopts, they are usually difficult to beat. Tactically, the Spaniard looks to clog up the midfield and squeeze space for opponents who want time on the ball. His back four will squeeze towards the halfway line, compressing the space between the lines.
This helps them win turnovers, and from there they have the ability and speed to hurt you. Villa are very good at starting quick attacks by using a pair of forwards who are quick and willing to run down the channels. No Premier League team launches more direct attacks than Villa – keep an eye out for wingers Leon Bailey and Moussa Diaby whenever they launch counterattacks.
Emery’s high-intensity, high-pressing style of football also limits the number of quality chances that opponents can create. Against an average of just 11.19 shots per game, only the current top three teams protect their goal better than Villa.
However, defending set pieces has always been a weakness. They have conceded 14 goals from corners and free kicks this season, with only two clubs conceding more. With Arsenal so strong at set-pieces and performing so well in central midfield, these will be areas of focus for Emery.
Facts and Statistics
Aston Villa are looking to complete their third Premier League Double, having previously done so in 1992/93 and 2020/21.
Only one of the last 16 league meetings between us (11 wins) and Villa (5 wins) has been a draw, and we have won four of the last five games.
Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last nine league games away from home against London sides (W6 D3) after losing eight of their previous nine games. It is Villa’s longest unbeaten run in the capital in league history.
We are unbeaten in our last 23 Premier League games since Europe, with the last such defeat coming against Manchester City in February 2021.
We have won 10 of our last 11 Premier League games (D1), scoring at least twice in each win. We only conceded four goals in that period.
Villa lost to Manchester City 1-4 in their last away game, but have not lost consecutive away games since May 2023. However, so far, their three away games against last season’s top four have all resulted in a 12-4 aggregate defeat.
This season, Villa have allowed opponents to go offside 142 times in the Premier League, more than 40 times more than any other team. Meanwhile, only Manchester City (33) have been called out for offside fewer times than Villa (38).
Kai Havertz has been involved in 9 goals in the last 7 league games (5 goals, 4 assists). This is his highest number of goals (9) and assists (5) in the Premier League season.
Bukayo Saka has been involved in 11 goals in the past 11 league games, scoring 9 goals and assisting 2 times. With one more goal, he would become the first English player to score 15 league goals for Arsenal since Ian Wright in the 1996/97 season.
Watkins has been involved in 11 goals (9 goals, 2 assists) in the past 10 league games and 7 goals (5 goals, 2 assists) in the last 4 away games. . His total of 18 goals this season is the second most by an Aston Villa player in a season, behind only Christian Benteke (19 goals in 2012/13).
Leandro Trossard has scored eight Premier League goals this season, his most in a single season. Four of these came as a substitute, with only Olivier Giroud having the most goals from a substitute in a single season at Arsenal (6 in 2016/17).
match official
David Coote will take charge of the Gunners’ first game since the second week of the season, when we beat Crystal Palace 1-0 despite Takehiro Tomiyasu being sent off. It was one of six wins we had in the 10 games he oversaw.
Villa are unbeaten in his three games in charge, including a 2-1 win over Brentford in December when both sides sent off a player. Coupled with Tomabao taking an early shower, this was the only red card he received in 19 games in all competitions this season.
referee: David Coote
assistant: Tim Wood, Mark Scholes
Fourth Official: Paul Tierney
used to be: Peter Banks
Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton
Villa prior visit
Last season we started the season with five consecutive wins but Villa paid the price with Gabriel Jesus opening the scoring and Douglas Luiz equalizing from a corner. However, Brazil’s magic continued as Gabriel Martinelli struck in the 77th minute to beat Steven Gerrard’s side 2-1.
The season before, we won 3-1 with goals from Thomas Partey, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Emile Smith Rowe, while Villa were led by Dean Smith. In charge, Dean Smith oversaw Villa’s brace in a 3-0 win in November 2020 when Watkins scored – their only win in their last six visits.
Before that, goals from Callum Chambers and Aubameyang secured a 3-2 win in September 2019, our rivals’ first win at the Emirates Stadium since relegation in 2015/16. game.
A look back at five classic wins against Villaincluding three 5-0 defeats 24 years apart.
live coverage
Tune in to Arsenal.com or the official app an hour before kick-off as Nick Bright and Adrian Clarke host our matchday show, packed with everything you need to know in preparation for the big game Everything needed.
Sky Sports Scenes’ Sharky and Specs Gonzalez will be joining them, while Gooner Daniel Jillings will be with us to talk about the launch of British Sign Language GCSE and the use of BSL on matchdays at the Emirates Stadium.
Adrian will focus on the game, commentating on Bayern’s first leg before live commentary from Dan Roebuck and David Hillier, and keeping an eye on Villa to see if the game could be won or lost lose.
You can also learn about Which broadcasters are showing this match No matter where you are in the world
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