Premier League: Aston Villa VS Arsenal - Prediction

Arsenal will play their first away game of the new Premier League season when they travel to Villa Park to face Aston Villa on Monday night. Mikel Arteta’s side made an excellent start to their title defence, but they will know that facing Unai Emery’s team away from home has caused them problems in recent years.

The Gunners opened their Premier League campaign with a comfortable 3-0 victory over newly promoted Coventry City. Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard were all on the scoresheet. On the other hand, Aston Villa could hardly have experienced a more different start. Emery’s side suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat against Brighton in their opening Premier League game.

Villa have gone through major changes during the summer. Several important players from last season have left the club, including Emiliano Martinez, Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa. Ollie Watkins is also leaving. Villa have responded by bringing in new players, including Leon Goretzka and Nicolas Jackson, but Emery may need time to rebuild his team. Aston Villa need a big performance to secure points tomorrow against the Gunners. Let's have a look on some key stats of this match:

Key Stats & Facts

• Arsenal hold the edge across all competitive meetings between the two sides, claiming 89 wins compared to Aston Villa's 72 victories.
• Arsenal have won 15 Premier League games at Villa Park, more than they have at any other away venue in the competition.
• Since returning to the EPL in 2019, Aston Villa have won 4 of their seven home games against Arsenal.
• Aston Villa have won each of their previous three home league matches when hosting the reigning Premier League champions.
• Arsenal have won their opening away fixture in each of the past four Premier League seasons.
• Unai Emery has lost 50% of his Premier League matches in August (8 of 16), his highest defeat rate in any calendar month in the competition.

Team News

Arsenal defender Ezri Konsa is set to meet his former club tomorrow. He joined Arsenal this summer from Aston Villa with a transfer fee of £55m. Bruno Guimaraes and Jurrien Timber are still not fully recovered and may need more time to be back in the squad, while William Saliba is still injured. Meanwhile, Gabriel Jesus is close to joining Barcelona and is not expected to play against Aston Villa.

As for the home side, they have lost many players during the summer transfer window. However, Aston Villa have confirmed the signing of Nickolas Jackson with a club-record transfer fee. He is likely to be featured tomorrow against the Gunners. On the other hand, Johan Manzambi and Brian Madjo remain injured.

Possible Lineup for Aston Villa:

Suzuki; Cash, Lindelof, Torres, Ruggeri; Bogarde, Kamara; Buendia, Barkley, McGinn; Jackson

Possible Lineup for Arsenal:

Raya; White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori; Rice, Lewis-Skelly; Saka, Odegaard, Tzolis; Havertz

Prediction: Villa 0-2 Arsenal

Emery knows Arsenal extremely well and has caused problems for Arteta before. After the embarrassing defeat at Brighton, he will also expect a strong reaction from his players in front of their home supporters.

However, Arsenal appear to be in a much better position going into the game. They look settled, confident and dangerous in attack, while Villa are still adjusting after a summer of major changes.

Betfair Odds

Aston Villa: 5.85

Draw: 4.35

Arsenal: 1.53

Visit BFB247 to get real-time Betfair Odds and an exclusive 2.5% commission on winning bets!