England Premier League
Saturday 19th March 2022
Kick off at 12:30pm GMT
Venue: Villa Park
Match Preview:
Aston Villa are looking to finish the season strong and despite losing their last game the club have been in good form and have won 3 of their last four games. Villa lost at West Ham last weekend which ended that recent run but the club will be happy to return home on Sunday to face Arsenal.
Villa’s objective will be to finish in the top half of the league and coming into this game the club are in 9th place with 36 points. Under Steven Gerrard it hasn’t all been plain sailing granted but Villa have shown some consistent form which they were struggling to do earlier in the season under Dean Smith. The bottom line is that for now it is all ticks for Gerrard. Villa probably won’t be finishing any higher than 9th given that they trail 8th placed Wolves by 10 points.
Arsenal have looked much stronger this season and that has been evident in the league where they could finish in 4th place and remain the favourites to do so. For the past two seasons the Gunners have had to settle for 8th so the leaps and bounds that the club has taken under manager Mikel Arteta are there for all to see. Arsenal did come back down to earth in midweek as they were beaten 2-0 at home against Liverpool. But that shouldn’t hurt this team too much the Reds are simply on a different level at this moment in time and that will be something that Arteta will have to get through to his players.
Arsenal’s form has been very good though and the club have won 4 of their last five games. Away from home the Gunners have lost five and overall they only have the 8th best away record in the league however recent away form is only matched by Liverpool and the club have won their last 4. The Gunners last away game ended in a 3-2 victory over Watford.
This game remains an important one with some direct rivals having to play in the FA Cup and others clubs now not playing until after the international break. Arsenal are in 4th place with 51 points they have 2 games in hand over some of their rivals but points wise the club are just 1 point ahead of 5th placed Manchester United and three in front of West Ham and Tottenham so there is all to play for.
Team News:
Aston Villa: Lucas Digne is out for at least the next two weeks with a hamstring injury. Kortney Hause is out with a muscle injury and there is currently no time frame on his return. Marvelous Nakamba won’t return until the beginning of next month at the earliest due to his knee injury.
Arsenal: The club has no new injuries coming into this game with only Takehiro Tomiyasu a doubt with his on going calf injury, and he is rated at 50/50 to return.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal Head to Head:
Last season Aston Villa won this game 1-0.
Aston Villa have won 3 of the last four meetings.
However Arsenal have won 8 of the last 11 meetings.
This fixture currently has a pattern of over and under goals and if this game follows then we will see under 2.5 goals.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal Prediction:
There has certainly been an upbeat momentum at Villa but let’s remember that their recent home form isn’t the strongest. True they did win their last game here beating Southampton 4-0 but it’s the clubs only home victory this year so far and follows defeats against Watford and Chelsea.
Arsenal have the more exciting team with the pace to really hurt this Villa side however there isn’t too much between the sides, but the Gunners are a good value price to win this. Let’s see what type of reaction we get from Arteta’s side because it could tell us about how the rest of the season for them may play out. If they play like a wounded animal after their Liverpool defeat then maybe we have found a genuine candidate for 4th place, if not, could we see the Gunners give it up? Recent history says so but Arsenal really have come on this season and we will back them to get a hard fought victory at the weekend but cover the draw on the refund for extra safety. Watch out for Buyako Saka for Arsenal too. He was quiet in the last game but he has scored quite a few goals on the road lately and at an excellent price should be looked into.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal Betting Tips:
Asian handicap (0.0 Arsenal) at 1.70
Anytime goalscorer: Buyako Saka at 3.50
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