Aston Villa meet Arsenal in a top of Premier League showdown at Villa Park.
Victory would lift Villa up to second for at least a few hours and three points behind Arsenal, whilst Mikel Arteta’s Gunners can move eight points clear at the summit before Manchester City play in mid-afternoon.
Team News
Emiliano Martinez could return for Villa after he sat out their 4-3 comeback victory at Brighton due to a back injury.
Ross Barkley (knee) and Tyrone Mings (hamstring) remain absent.
Arsenal will be without Cristhian Mosquera after he suffered an ankle injury in their 2-0 home win against Brentford.
Declan Rice is a doubt after he suffered a muscle injury during that match.
William Saliba, Leandro Trossard could return from knocks but Gabriel (adductor) and Kai Havertz (knee) remain sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Villa host Arsenal at Villa Park on Saturday 6 December at 12:30pm live on TNT Sports 1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Villa have lost just one of their last four meetings against Arsenal (W2, D1, L1), having lost each of the previous four beforehand.
- Arsenal have won three of their last four visits to Villa (W3, L1).
- Villa conceded twice in both meetings against Arsenal last season (D1, L1), as they lost 2-0 at home then drew 2-2 in North London.
- Villa have kept clean sheets in their last three home matches (W3).
- Arsenal have conceded first in four of their last six away top-flight games (W3, D2, L1), except for victories at Fulham and Burnley by 1-0 and 2-0 results respectively.
Prediction
Now up to third with just one defeat in their last nine league games and knowing that a win would put them just three points off Arsenal, Villa have to again be clinical but this time from the get-go because their defending at Brighton was initially sloppy and a repeat would certainly be punished.
Arsenal meanwhile comfortably dominated their win over Brentford and coped solidly n defence whenever the Bees got forward, but this is likely to be a tougher test for them because Villa are a tough nut to crack at home – with only Crystal Palace having won there this season.
Although I expect Arsenal to find a way to get the win, I do think that Villa have enough grit to snatch a draw if their heroics at Brighton hasn’t tired them down.
Prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal
Result: Aston Villa 2-1 Arsenal