Aston Villa vs Arsenal preview: How to watch on TV, live stream, team news & prediction

Arsenal travel to the midlands to face Aston Villa in the early kick off on Saturday, hoping to avenge the 3-0 defeat they suffered at the hands of Dean Smith's side at the Emirates Stadium back in November.

The Villans ran riot that day through an own goal scored by Bukayo Saka and Ollie Watkins' late double.

Having won at Old Trafford the week before, Mikel Arteta's side were brought back down to earth and following that defeat, the Gunners failed to win in any of their next six Premier League matches.

Arsenal went down to nine men at Wolves on Tuesday and despite taking the lead and looking impressive, went on to lose at the hands of Nuno Espirito Santo's side.

Aston Villa come into this one off the back of a home defeat inflicted by West Ham and will no doubt be looking to put that right against the north Londoners.


Where to watch on TV

The fixture will take place at Villa Park, the home of the Lions | Clive Mason/Getty Images

What time is kick-off? 12:30 GMT
Where is it being played? Villa Park
TV channel: BT Sport 1
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
VAR: David Coote


Team news

Arsenal will be without Bernd Leno who was sent off in the defeat at Wolves earlier this week | Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

Following their midweek defeat, Aston Villa have no new injury concerns. Kourtney Hause is still sidelined due to an injury he picked up last month and will be unavailable. Striker Wesley is still absent due to a knee injury.

Arsenal will be without their first-choice goalkeeper Bernd Leno and David Luiz through suspension after the pair were both dismissed at Wolves. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is available having come on as a substitute on Tuesday after an absence pertaining to a family matter. Kieran Tierney is expected to miss out through injury and Maty Ryan is a doubt. Pablo Mari could return to the squad.


Predicted lineups

Aston Villa: (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett; McGinn, Luiz; Grealish, Barkley, Traore; Watkins

Arsenal: (4-2-3-1): Runarsson; Bellerin, Holding, Gabriel, Cedric; Xhaka, Partey; Saka, Smith Rowe, Pepe; Lacazette


Recent form

Aston Villa

Aston Villa 1-3 West Ham United (3/2)
Southampton 0-1 Aston Villa (30/1)
Burnley 3-2 Aston Villa (27/1)
Aston Villa 2-0 Newcastle United (23/1)
Manchester City 2-0 Aston Villa (20/1)

Arsenal

Wolves 2-1 Arsenal (2/2)
Arsenal 0-0 Manchester United (30/1)
Southampton 1-3 Arsenal (26/1)
Southampton 1-0 Arsenal (23/1)
Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle United (18/1)


Prediction

Arsenal v Aston Villa - Premier League | Visionhaus/Getty Images

The Gunners have shown signs of improvement in recent weeks and, despite losing the game at Molineux, will have taken encouragement from the way they dominated their opponents prior to David Luiz's red card.

Dean Smith's side, despite having lost to an in-form West Ham earlier this week, have proven they are capable of competing with the league's best sides and will no doubt refer back to their win over Arsenal in November.

Arsenal go into this one in better form, however the absence of Bernd Leno, who has been nominated for the league's player of the month award along with Kieran Tierney, certainly weakens the Gunners.

This is an extremely difficult game to call but with Arsenal in the slightly better form, if they can play with the intensity and balance they did during the first half at Wolves and avoid the same disciplinary issues, it should be a narrow win for the Gunners.

Prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal



Source : 90min