Prediction: Arsenal vs Aston Villa

Prediction: Arsenal win

Best Odds: 17/20

Bookmaker: 888sport

The Premier League is back once again this weekend with a rare edition of Friday Night Football for fans to sink their teeth into. The game in question will see Arsenal lock horns with Aston Villa in a fixture that we’ve seen plenty of times over the years in the history of the top tier, and based on their respective trajectories, we probably will for a long time to come. On Friday, though, they’ll both attempt to push back against questionable starts to the new campaign.

Arsenal

Arsenal are far from the complete package and that’ll probably continue to be true for a while. Mikel Arteta appears to be in it for the long run but if they’re going to make the most of a Europa League-free campaign, they need to work on the balance within their squad. A lot of the deadwood is gone but the players within the first team squad aren’t quite ready to take that next step up just yet, and the clock is ticking.

Team News

Xhaka is the only confirmed injury absence as of this writing with Saka being seen as a fitness doubt.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa made some impressive signings in the summer but that isn’t going to mean a whole lot if they can’t learn how to kill games off when they get the chance to do so. Their mentality of sitting back and the panic they seem to go into feels a lot like a self-destruct button just waiting to go off. If Dean Smith wants to change the status quo, he needs to think about initiating a mentality shift in training.

Team News

Trezeguet is out through injury with Davis and Bailey being fitness doubts. Martinez and Luiz, however, will be available despite their busy schedules recently.

Factors to Consider

• In their last meeting back in February, Aston Villa beat Arsenal 1-0.
• Arsenal have won four and drawn two of their last six games.
• Aston Villa have won two, drawn one and lost three of their last six games.
• Arsenal have scored 10 goals and conceded three in their last six games.
• Aston Villa have scored eight goals and conceded nine in their last six games.

Conclusion

The Emirates crowd will, at the very least, be encouraged by the late equaliser against Crystal Palace – even if the performance itself didn’t exactly warrant too much excitement. Arsenal have had time to regroup after that game and the moment has come for them to have a “shining” type of performance, which is what we’re expecting to see when they meet Villa. The visitors will still be fairly beaten down from what happened against Wolves and we just don’t think they’ll be able to keep the Gunners out.

Prediction: Arsenal win

Best Odds: 17/20

Bookmaker: 888sport