Arsenal vs Aston Villa

Emirates Stadium forms the backdrop for a must-win Premier League fixture between title-bidding Arsenal and top-four hopefuls Aston Villa.

While a 2-2 Champions League draw against Bayern Munich must have fallen short of Mikel Arteta’s expectations, this is not the time for regrets. Arsenal took advantage of Liverpool’s tumble at Manchester United to draw level on points at the Premier League summit with a 3-0 thrashing of Brighton last weekend. Except for a 0-0 draw at Manchester City earlier this month, the Gunners have won all nine remaining league games in 2024, building a rock-solid case in one of the tensest title races in Premier League history. But there’s no room for complacency, as the division’s best defense takes on an Aston Villa side they lost to 1-0 in the reverse fixture in December.

With only five of Arsenal’s 14 Premier League clean sheets this season coming on home turf, visiting Aston Villa will fancy their chances of completing a rare league double against the Gunners. Despite beating Lille 2-0 in midweek Europa Conference League action, Villa’s domestic form has been a source of concern. Unai Emery’s men have only won one of their last five league matches (D2, L2), conceding an alarming 12 goals in this sequence and dropping outside the top four as a result. Emery must plug Villa’s defensive holes to strengthen his bid to upset his former employers against the odds and recent tradition, for that matter. Indeed, barring a 3-0 win in 2020, the Lions have lost six of their last seven competitive visits to the Emirates, conceding 2+ goals on each occasion.