Who: Arsenal vs Aston Villa
Content: English Premier League
Location: Emirates Stadium, London, UK
When: Tuesday 8:15pm (20:15 GMT)
How to follow: Get everything ready on Al Jazeera Sports from 17:00 GMT ahead of the live text commentary stream.
Despite failing to win their opening six games of the season, Aston Villa’s recent run of impressive form has made them serious title contenders against league leaders Arsenal.
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With eight consecutive wins in the Premier League and 11 consecutive wins in all competitions, the first consecutive winning streak since 1914, Unai Emery’s side have moved within three points of leaders the Gunners.
Emery will also be keen to continue winning at his former club Arsenal, where he replaced Arsene Wenger in 2019 after just over a year.
Arsenal led the league early this season, at one point holding a six-point lead at the top, but they have looked unconvincing in recent weeks, conceding a last-minute goal to defeat Villa in Birmingham 2-1 in early December.
The Gunners briefly lost their place at the top of the league at the weekend to Manchester City, but regained the top spot with a 2-1 home win over Brighton, while Villa came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 away.
“We have very good competition.”
Emery will return to the scene of one of his few managerial failures on Tuesday, aiming to deal a major blow to his former club Arsenal’s ambitions to win the Premier League for the first time in 22 years.
The Spaniard has awakened Villa’s sleeping giant, transforming the club from a relegation battle to one contending for their first league title since 1981.
“We have very good competition. We are third in the league behind Arsenal and Manchester City. It’s amazing,” Emery said after Saturday’s second-half comeback against Stamford Bridge.
Villa were on the back foot against the Blues and were leading 1-0, but three substitutions in the final minutes changed the game.
Ollie Watkins came off the bench to score two goals, and afterwards praised the manager’s system changes as “tactical genius”.
Emery performs well against Arsenal
Few believe Villa can last another 20 games against Arsenal and City’s far richer and deeper squads. But the title challenge is just the next step in Emery’s upward trajectory since taking over as manager three years ago.
After 13 years away from Europe, including three years in the Second Division Championship, the Villans have qualified for the continental competition for the past three seasons.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) came close to losing their game at Villa Park in April, but won 5-4 on aggregate in a thrilling Champions League quarter-final to claim their first title.
Meanwhile, Emery has lost just twice in 10 games against Arsenal during his time at PSG, Villarreal and Villa, including a 2-0 win at the Emirates in April 2024 that ultimately cost Mikel Arteta’s side the title.
Emery’s ill-fated 18 months in north London were by no means a disaster. The 54-year-old took over a club in decline in Wenger’s later years, but in his only full season in charge they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Champions League and reached the Europa League final.
“Everyone is ready to do whatever it takes.”
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard believes Declan Rice’s “incredible” performance as an emergency right-back against Brighton shows the Gunners are “ready to do anything” to win the Premier League.
With Julian Timber and Ben White sidelined, Rice, one of the league’s standout midfielders this term, will play in the full-back role and may be required to play again on Tuesday.
“To play at right-back for probably the first time in his life and then play like he did today was unbelievable. So it was a really, really great performance from him,” Odegaard said of Rice.
“And that’s just our team. Everyone is ready to do whatever it takes. And (Rice’s performance) was a great example of that.”
Gunners cope with injuries in ‘incredible ways’
Odegaard opened the scoring for Arsenal against Brighton in the 14th minute, and it should have been a customary three points for the hosts when, just after the break, Georginio Rutter’s own goal from a corner from Rice made it 2-0.
But Diego Gomez’s reply against Brighton changed the tone of the match and there was a sense of relief at the final whistle as Arsenal overcame another obstacle in the title race.
“The ripple effect of a win is incredibly strong,” Arteta said of what could have been an easier win.
“It should never be 2-1, but that’s the Premier League.
“What I like is that we have a lot of problems, but we are dealing with them in an incredible way. We lost Julian (Timber) yesterday, we lost (Riccardo) Calafioli in the warm-up today. Declan (Rice) has to play as a full-back, but you saw the performance he put in. That’s the spirit and that’s what our players want too.”
direct confrontation
The two clubs first met 120 years ago and have now met 206 times, with the Gunners winning 88, Aston Villa winning 72 and 46 ending in a draw.
Arsenal have lost three of their last five games against Villa, picking up just four points in the process. The last time they recorded a win against Villa was in August 2024, when they won 2-0 away.
The Gunners have won nine of their last 10 Premier League home games, but Villa head to London with four points from their last two trips to the Emirates – a 2-0 win in April 2024 and a 2-2 draw in January.
arsenal team news
Arteta is hopeful that Timber can pass late fitness tests. If and when he is available again, Rice will likely return to a midfield role.
Calafioli, who missed the lead-up to Brighton and was replaced at left-back by Miles Lewis-Skelly, remains a big question mark.
But in a big boost for the Gunners, main centre-back Gabriel Magalhães has recovered from an adductor injury and could start for the first time since November.
Expected lineup:
Raya (goalkeeper); Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Louis Skelly. Zvimendi, Reis, Odegaard. Saka, Gokeres, Eze
Aston Villa team news
Right-back Matty Cash and defensive midfielder Boubacar Kamara have been suspended and will be replaced by Amadou Onana and Lamarre Bogarde.
Defenders Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres and midfielder Ross Barkley remain sidelined through injury, while Ivory Coast forward Evan Guesand is playing in the African Cup of Nations.
Watkins, who came off the bench after scoring twice against Chelsea, is expected to start up front in place of Donyell Malen.
Expected lineup:
Martinez (goalkeeper); Bogarde, Konsa, Lindelof, Maazen. Onana, Tielemans. McGinn, Buendia, Rogers. Watkins
