Who: Aston Villa vs. Arsenal
What: English Premier League
Where: Emirates Stadium, London, UK
When: Tuesday at 8:15pm (20:15 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.
Aston Villa’s stunning recent form has made them legitimate title contenders when they travel to league leaders Arsenal, despite not capturing any of their first six games of the season.
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Unai Emery’s men are now within three points of the Gunners at the top of the table with eight Premier League victories in a row, including 11 in all competitions, which is their longest winning streak since 1914.
Emery will be eager to win at his previous employer, Arsenal, where he took over as manager in February, less than a year after taking over from Arsene Wenger.
Arsenal set up a six-point lead over them in the first half of the league this year, but they have since looked less convincing and lost 2-1 to Villa in Birmingham earlier in December after conceding a last-gasp goal.
Manchester City briefly took the lead over the weekend, but the Gunners resurrected control with a spirited 2-1 win over Brighton, while Villa rallied from behind to record an impressive 2-1 win away at Chelsea.
“We are very competitive,” he said.
Emery makes a rare managerial failure on Tuesday, returning to the scene of his most recent outings, with the goal of a major blow to former Premier League champion Arsenal’s long-awaited bid for a title.
The Spaniard’s transformation from battling relegation to contending for their first league title since 1981 has led to the awakening of a sleeping giant in Villa.
“We are doing a very good job.” We are currently third in the league, trailing only Manchester City and Arsenal. Emery commanded admiration after he orchestrated a second-half turnaround at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The Blues were putting an end to Villa’s 1-0 lead before an hour-long triple substitution made the game change.
Ollie Watkins praised his manager’s switch of system as “tactical genius” after he came off the bench to score twice.
Emery has a strong record against Arsenal.
Few people think Villa will be able to survive 20 more games against Arsenal and City’s much greater wealth and squad depth. However, Emery’s three-year tenure as president is just the start of a trend on the upward trajectory.
The Villains have qualified for continental competition for the past three seasons following a 13-year absence from Europe, which included a three-year stint in the second-tier championship.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) were on the verge of a shock victory at Villa Park in April, but they escaped and won the Champions League quarterfinal 5-4 overall, going on to win the competition for the first time.
In addition, Emery has lost just twice in 10 meetings against Arsenal in competitions at PSG, Villarreal, and Villa, including a 2-0 victory at the Emirates in April 2024, which ultimately cost Mikel Arteta’s men the title.
Even Emery’s disastrous 18 months in north London were not without their own misery. The 54-year-old inherited a club that was in decline during Wenger’s final years, but he only managed to make it a Champions League team in his final full season in charge and reach the Europa League final.
Everyone is “everybody ready to do whatever it takes.”
Martin Odegaard, the captain of Arsenal, thinks that Declan Rice’s “unbelievable” performance as an emergency right-back against Brighton shows that they are “ready to do whatever it takes” to win the Premier League.
Rice, one of the standout midfielders in the league this season, could be required to play there again on Tuesday due to Jurrien Timber and Ben White’s absence.
It was unbelievable to play right-back [probably]for the first time in his life, and then execute it the way he did it today, according to Odegaard.
“And that’s just our team,” he continued. Rice’s performance was another excellent illustration of how everyone is willing to do whatever it takes.
Gunners handling injuries in an “unbelievable way”
It should have been a straightforward three points for the hosts when Odegaard scored the opener for Arsenal against Brighton in the 14th minute and Georginio Rutter’s own goal from a Rice corner made it 2-0 shortly after the break.
However, Diego Gomez’s response to Brighton altered the tone of the match, and Arsenal came away with a victory at the end of the match.
Arteta compared a victory that should have been easier to say, “The knock-on effect of winning is incredibly powerful.”
“The Premier League should never be 2-1,” he said.
We have a lot of issues, and we’re dealing with them in an incredible way, like when we lost Jurrien [Timber] and today we lost [Riccardo] Calafiori in the warm-up. When Declan Rice is required to play at fullback, you can see how well he performed, and that’s how our players want it.
Head-to-head
The two clubs first fought 120 years ago, and 206 of those matches saw Aston Villa win 72 and 46 of those games ended in draws.
Arsenal last recorded a win over Villa in August 2024 with a 2-0 away win over Villa, having lost three of their previous five games against Villa and picking up just four points along the way.
Villa travel to London after winning nine of their last ten Premier League games with a 2-0 win in April 2024 and 2-2 draw in January, despite the Gunners having won nine of those games.
news from the Arsenal team
Arteta hopes Timber’s late fitness test will be passed. Rice would resump playing midfield if he were to return.
After being replaced at left-back by Myles Lewis-Skelly and resuming his warm-up against Brighton, Calafiori remains a significant doubt.
Important centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes has recovered from an adductor injury and will start for the first time since November in what would be a significant boost for the Gunners.
lineup anticipated:
Raya (goalkeeper), Timber (goalkeeper), Saliba (goalkeeper), Gabriel (goalkeeper), Zubimendi (goalkeeper), Rice (goalkeeper), Odegaard (goalkeeper), Saka (gookeres), and Ezekiel (goalkeeper).
news from the Aston Villa team
Amadou Onana and Lamare Bogarde will replace them with suspended right-back Matty Cash and defensive midfielder Boubacar Kamara after receiving numerous bookings.
While Ivory Coast forward Evann Guessand is participating in the Africa Cup of Nations, defensive players Tyrone Mings, Pau Torres, and midfielder Ross Barkley are still ruled out with injuries.
Watkins will start up front in place of Donyell Malen after coming off the bench to score a brace against Chelsea.
lineup anticipated:
Source: Aljazeera
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