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Arsenal will look to bounce back on Saturday as they travel to face Aston Villa in the Premier League.
The Gunners will appear in the early kick-off this weekend, at 12.30pm, as they look to get back to winning ways following their disappointing 2-1 loss to Wolves on Tuesday.
They had both David Luiz and goalkeeper Bernd Leno sent off, as they now lead the table for the most red cards shown this season. Arsenal impressed in the first half to go 1-0 up, but Wolves capitalised on their obvious advantage to win the game.
Mikel Arteta will travel to Villa Park in a match that the best betting sites have as too close to call in the hope that they can jump their opposition in the league table. Aston Villa are currently 9th on 32 points, whereas Arsenal sit 10th – one point behind.
The Gunners were thrashed by Villa 3-0 in their first meeting back in November. An own goal from Arsenal youngster Bukayo Saka gave the visitors the lead, before Ollie Watkins netted twice in three minutes to put the game to bed.
Form
Arsenal’s loss in mid-week ended their seven match unbeaten run in the Premier League, with their last defeat coming against Everton in December.
However, after a successful couple of months, filled with victories, they have now only won one game in their last four in all competitions.
Aston Villa on the other hand, are also looking to bounce back into form this weekend. They were beaten 3-1 by a dominant West Ham side on Wednesday evening, and have now only won two games in their last eight matches.
Most recently, their unpredictable run of form has seen them win comfortably against Newcastle United and Southampton, but then suffer losses at the hands of Burnley and West Ham.
Team news
While there are no new injury concerns for Arsenal ahead of Saturday’s fixture, the Gunners will be without the suspended David Luiz and Bernd Leno after both players were sent off against Wolves in mid-week.
Arsenal have launched an appeal against the red card shown to centre back Luiz, but it is unlikely to be rescinded before their match against Aston Villa.
New signing Mathew Ryan, who arrived on loan from Brighton last month, hasn’t yet trained for the Gunners but could still potentially start over Runar Alex Runarsson in between the sticks.
Keiran Tierney has been training with the team but will not feature this weekend, with Pablo Mari the only other injury worry within the squad.
Arsenal will be boosted by the return of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang however, who came on for the last half hour in mid-week. The captain has missed out on their last three games because his mother was ill in health.
Aston Villa on the other hand, also have no new injuries. Kortney Hause remains sidelined for the next 4-6 weeks with a foot injury, and Wesley remains their only other long-term absentee – who is out with a knee injury.
Summary
We can expect a tight-knitted affair in this match, with both teams determined to find three points to push towards a European spot for next season.
Both Arsenal and Aston Villa are looking to bounce back after suffering losses in mid-week. Mikel Arteta will be wary that if they can get three points here, they could close the gap on teams above and move safely into the top half of the table.
Villa are not to be underestimated however, and will be a difficult side to break down. They were poor against West Ham on Wednesday and also need a victory to boost confidence within the squad.
