Aston Villa vs Arsenal Preview

Premier League action reruns this weekend with table-topping Arsenal travelling to Villa Park to face Aston Villa in Matchday 16 of the 2023/24 season.

The hosts were the talk of Matchday 15 following their impressive outing against defending champions Manchester City at Villa Park. Villa completely outplayed Pep Guardiola’s side, recording an impressive 22 shots against them, although they scored just one goal.

That win was their 14th consecutive win at home in all competitions and moved Unai Emery’s side into third place, just four points off Arsenal at the top of the table. The result also extended their unbeaten run in the league to four games (W3, D1), prompting talks that they are now fully in the title race.

While title discussions may be premature, Emery knows his side can put themselves in a good position before the new year if he can engineer a 15th straight win at home for his side. He will fancy their chances of getting a good result here, given that each of his side’s eight wins prior to their win over City on Wednesday saw them net at least twice.

Moreover, this particular game has an extra layer of spice for Emery, who was sacked as Arsenal’s manager in 2019 but remains unbeaten in four of his five career meetings against his former employers (W1, D3, L1).

Meanwhile, Arsenal travel to Birmingham with a spring in their step, having snatched a late win against Luton Town in their last outing. That win was their sixth win in a row and saw the Gunners maintain their two-point lead at the top of the table.

However, Mikel Arteta picked up a yellow card in the game following his rambunctious celebrations in the game, meaning that he will miss this tie. That seems a small price to pay for an outpouring of emotion after becoming the first team in PL history to score five winners on or beyond the 90th minute in one calendar year while also maintaining their spot at the summit of the table.

They will hope to extend their excellent six-game competitive winning streak when they travel for their second away game in two games. But a return of just three successes across their latest seven trips perhaps raises some doubts (D1, L3) about whether the Gunners can record a third straight win at Villa Park.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Premier League Fixtures:

Premier League Table