Aston Villa v Arsenal

Aston Villa vs Arsenal Preview

In last weekend's ‘battle of The Claret and Blue', Aston Villa registered a 2-1 win away from home in the nation's capital against West Ham at the London Stadium to get the west midlands club off to a winning start to this new Premier League campaign, while Arsenal secured all three points against another west midlands outfit as they recorded a solid 2-0 home win against Wolves last weekend.

Last season's fourth place finish in the Premier League standings equalled Aston Villa's best end to a top flight season since the days of former manager Steve Bruce back in the 2017/18 season and The Villains will be looking to achieve another top four finish this time around as well, although they face a tough assignment when they entertain Arsenal at Villa Park on Saturday evening.

Despite claiming a place in this season's Champions League on the back of an overall impressive campaign last season, it's interesting to note that Aston Villa have managed to collect just four wins within their last 12 matches overall in the Premier League, only two of which were actually registered on home soil.

Indeed, wins against Wolves and Bournemouth were Villa's only highlights towards the end of last season and in addition, Villa picked up just four wins in their last 11 home games as well.

Arsenal were once again pipped at the post by Manchester City at the end of last season but progress has definitely been made by The Gunners under manager Mikel Arteta as two runners-up places have been achieved in the last two seasons and Champions League football has once again returned to north London as well.

Whether or not Arsenal can finally break Manchester City's dominance in the Premier League and in turn claim the top flight title remains to be seen but the north London outfit have won their last seven games on the trot and they will be confident that they can get the better of former manager, Unai Emery, and his Villa outfit here in the west midlands.

Wins on the road towards the end of last season at Wolves, arch-rivals Tottenham and Manchester United will also serve as a boost ahead of Saturday evening's encounter between two teams who are expected to be fighting it out for a place in next season's Champions League.

The bigger picture further underlines Arsenal's dominance second only to Manchester City as The Gunners have lost just once in their previous 19 league matches but that one loss came in the form of a 2-0 loss at home to Aston Villa.

Aston Villa v Arsenal Verdict

Aston Villa have won the last two meetings on the trot against Arsenal but The Gunners are expected to turn the tables on their hosts in this one.

Therefore, our main bet will be Arsenal win @ 1.80

Other side bets worth considering:

Arsenal win & Over 2.5 goals @ 2.60

Correct Score: Arsenal 3-1 @ 15