Saturday sees us head to one of English football’s most traditional grounds in Villa Park, and it’s been a venue that has seen plenty of sterling Gunners performances down the years.
We’ve recorded big victories, dramatic late wins and scored some breathtaking goals at the home of Aston Villa, and we’ve dusted off some classic action for you to relive some of the best encounters all over again.
Here are five memorable meetings to whet your appetite ahead of the latest instalment:
December 31, 1988
Aston Villa 0-3 Arsenal
This was a New Year’s Eve to remember for the Gooners that travelled to Villa Park for this one, as we leapfrogged Norwich City to go to the top of the table moving in 1989. Just two minutes into the encounter, Alan Smith beat Nigel Spink to the ball to put us in front, and from that point we never looked like losing.
The lead was doubled before the break when a Spink punch fell to David Rocastle who coolly chipped the ball into the unguarded net, and with a couple of minutes remaining substitute Perry Groves tucked home a third to get the champagne corks popping early.
April 17, 1995
Aston Villa 0-4 Arsenal
We ran riot at Villa Park in this meeting, with our strike partnership of John Hartson and Ian Wright helping themselves to a brace each. The Welshman got the scoring going on 31 minutes when he converted a Paul Merson cutback, and two minutes later Wright picked the ball up in his own half and burst past two defenders before firing past Mark Bosnich.
A tale of two penalties would determine the winner in the second half, as David Seaman saved from Dean Saunders before Wright made no mistake from 12 yards after being upended in the box, and three minutes from time Hartson added further icing to the cake.
March 17, 2002
Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal
As we maintained our push for the Premier League title, this win in the second city would prove vital, and conjure up one of our greatest goals in the competition’s history. Things were going to plan when Edu fired us in front on 15 minutes, but Villa fought back and only an incredible penalty save from Seaman prevented Gareth Barry from equalising.
Five minutes later a long pass from Freddie Ljungberg was brilliantly controlled by Robert Pires who then flicked the ball past George Boateng and lobbed Peter Schmeichel to put us 2-0 up, and despite Dion Dublin pulling one back Arsene Wenger’s men held on for a priceless, and memorable, victory.
September 20, 2014
Aston Villa 0-3 Arsenal
This match was decided between the 32nd and 36 minutes as we went goal crazy by netting three times to seal victory with nearly an hour to spare. Villa were undefeated in the league going into this game, but were blown away by our attacking threat, such as when Danny Welbeck fed Mesut Ozil for the opener.
Two minutes later the pair reversed roles as a sweeping move ended with the German international crossing for Welbeck to net his first Gunners goal, and then Aly Cissokho turned a Kieran Gibbs cross past Brad Guzan and into his own net as we scored three times in just 192 seconds to end the contest.
February 18, 2023
Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal
We netted twice in stoppage-time to grab a late victory that saw us return to the top of the Premier League table, but we had to work incredibly hard for the points after Ollie Watkins put the hosts in front after just five minutes. Bukayo Saka soon drove home an equaliser, but Villa led at the break after Philippe Coutinho found the target.
We battled back once again and Oleksandr Zinchenko found the perfect time to score his first goal for the club to make it 2-2, but after the 90 minutes was up, Jorginho saw a shot from range cannon off the crossbar and off Emiliano Martinez to put us in front, before Gabriel Martinelli wrapped things up with a breakaway goal after the Villans’ keeper had gone up for a late corner.
Take a look back at more classic encounters at Villa Park, including a masterclass from our mid-00s side, with our playlist.
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