Arsenal are back at home to face a struggling Aston Villa side to make it five wins in a row in the new season of the Premier League.
The Gunners came from behind to defeat a solid Fulham 2-1 side in a euphoric atmosphere at Emirates while Steven Gerard’s side lost more points in the 1-0 defeat to West Ham.
ARS vs AST Match Details
Date: Wednesday, 31 August 2022 / Thursday, 1 September 2022
Time: 19:30 (BST) / 00:00 (IST)
Venue: Emirates Stadium, London
ARS vs AST Match Preview
Gabriel Magalhaes turned from villain to an instant hero after he made amends for his earlier blunt giveaway to Aleksandar Mitrovic for Fulham’s opener by scoring the winning goal in the 85th minute to the sheer joy of the home support. The difficult 2-1 win kept their undefeated start to the new campaign intact. Mikel Arteta's side dominated the entirety of the game but a firm defense from Fulham and ex-Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno in top form prevented them from having the comfort the home side achieved from cruising victories in previous games. The huge error from Gabriel in gifting the lead to the opposition only five minutes into the second half complex the matter further. However, this vibrant Arsenal team did what was asked of them and delivered a comeback win they deserved all afternoon making it four out of four. Marco Silva’s Fulham were undefeated going into the fixture so the three points tasted sweeter as players and fans engaged in celebration anticipating a better season from the lot this time around. Playmaker Martin Odegaard has started this campaign on a whole new level building almost all attacks for Arsenal and proving more effective by having a remarkable forward like Gabriel Jesus to link up at the top. He brought his side back into the game with a deflected effort keeping the Fulham defense busy through his forward runs and passes. The nature of the win away from the usual comfort zone and key individuals taking matters into their own hands to salvage points brings a lot of confidence to the squad preparing for every situation that is thrown at them. However, Arteta hopes for a more controlled affair in the midweek clash against Aston Villa knowing the Villains are slacking this season with only one win in four games so far despite having a good transfer window. The win is even more vital for Arsenal at this stage to carry an excellent momentum before facing Manchester United at Old Trafford in the next game.
Aston Villa’s poor start to the 2022/23 Premier League season continued with a 1-0 loss to West Ham. Steven Gerrard’s side slumped to a third defeat in four games when Pablo Fornals scored the only goal of the game to hand the hammers their first-ever win of the campaign incidentally. This is the second time Villa failed to find the back of the net and their barren run of not keeping a clean sheet extended to nine Premier League games counting from last season. All of this spells major trouble for manager Steven Gerrard whose job is under scrutiny if he fails to obtain positive results in a few weeks. The long-term injury to prominent defender Diego Carlos signed from Sevilla, a supposed discontentment between the manager and club captain Tyrone Mings and the lack of discipline at the back have harmed the Villans this season. Unfortunately, they have carried their late last season form in which they ended the season with only two wins in 11 games. The victories came against Norwich and Burnley, two relegated teams last season, finishing an uninspiring 14th place on the table. The only three this points this campaign came against Everton after a surprise 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth on the opening day but followed by the 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace and the disappointing result in the weekend. The sequence of games turns worse from here with a trip to league leaders Arsenal next before champions Manchester City knock on their door on Saturday. Aston Villa have won three of their last five meetings against the Gunners but lost both of the games in this meeting last season. The electric form of the home side is a major worry for Steven Gerrard and their 16 goals scored at the Emirates in last five league games make the job even harder for Villa’s leaky defense. Villa’s win over Arsenal at the Emirates in 2020 is also the only points they gathered in the last five matches in this ground.
Recent Form (league)
AST: LLWL
ARS: WWWW
ARS vs AST Team News
Steven Gerrard will look upon Tyrone Mings fitness to place him in the starting lineup even though Ezri Konsa and Callum Chambers seem the preferable option for the former Liverpool skipper with Diego Carlos out for the rest of the year with an Achilles injury. The manager could start Jacob Ramsey and Emiliano Buendia in this game with Douglas Luiz drawing interest from other clubs in the transfer market and Philippe Coutinho not affecting games anymore.
For Arsenal, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Thomas Partey will miss out once again after not featuring against Fulham in the weekend. The Ukrainian has sustained a knee injury having no return date yet while the midfielder has a thigh injury set to keep him out for a couple of games. Kieran Tierney at left-back and Elneny in midfield will continue in their job. Reis Nelson is a few weeks away from fitness carrying a muscle injury. The same eleven should remain intact with fresh legs can be brought early from the bench. That could see Fabio Vieira finally get some minutes since his move to Arsenal this summer.
ARS vs AST Predicted Lineups
ARS: Aaron Ramsdale; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Kieran Tierney; Granit Xhaka, Mohamed Elneny; Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli; Gabriel Jesus
AST: Emiliano Martinez; Matty Cash, Callum Chambers, Ezri Konsa, Lucas Digne; John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, Jacob Ramsey; Leon Bailey, Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Buendia
ARS vs AST Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Ramsdale
DEF: Cash, Saliba, Magalhaes, Chambers
MID: Saka, Kamara, Odegaard
FW: Jesus, Watkins, Martinelli
Captain: Gabriel Jesus
Vice-captain: Martin Odegaard
Martin Odegaard has scored 3 goals this season for Arsenal almost half of the strikes he managed last season.
Ollie Watkins has three goal contributions in four games this season for Aston Villa. He has also struck three times in the same amount of games against Arsenal.
Gabriel Martinelli has created more number of chances than any other player in an Arsenal shirt with 10.
Gabriel Jesus has 3 assists and 1 goal in his last six games against Aston Villa. The Brazilian has contributed to 5 goals in four games this season.
