After beating Tottenham Hotspur in midweek to extend our unbeaten run at our house to 13 league games, we face an Aston Villa side on Saturday (5.30pm UK) who were the last team to leave N5 with three Premier League points.
Ironically, we last had a longer run without defeat at Emirates Stadium in 2018/19 under current Villa boss Unai Emery, and his team will again provide a stern test having re-established themselves as one of the country’s top teams under his watch.
But buoyed by a derby day victory and the fact that no top-flight team has amassed more home points than us this term, Mikel Arteta will hope to be the Spanish boss celebrating come full-time as we aim to hit new levels under his watch, despite a relentless period of fixtures that will see both teams taste Champions League football again next week.
Villa reinvigorated

Villa head into this weekend seventh in the Premier League, having seen their form pick up in recent weeks after struggling to balance their European exploits with domestic action.
The Villans won four of their first five games, the only blip being the 2-0 loss to us in August, but then came a run of one win in eight once Champions League fixtures were added to their schedule. That has been where they’ve done their best work, the highlight being a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in early October, and are level with us on 13 points as they also look to book a top-eight spot.
While the loss at our expense was the only one they’ve tasted on home turf in the league, Emery’s team have struggled on their travels. They’d lost five in a row before snapping that run with a 1-0 win away to Everton on Wednesday, which was also just their third clean sheet in the Premier League all season.
What the managers say
Arteta: "We're going to try to be as good as we possibly can tomorrow night, that's the objective. They are a really good side, that's why they beat us last season and proved as well when we played at Villa Park that they are very difficult opponents, so we'll prepare in the best way to win.
"If you want to be fighting for the top trophies with the top teams for 11 months like we've been doing the last two-and-a-half years now, you have to enjoy those kind of moments, circumstances or challenges and the pressure that comes with it because it's the beauty of it. We are playing to win and that's exactly where we want to be."

Emery: "This is different circumstances [to Villa’s win at the Emirates last season]. That moment was a very special circumstance for them and for us because they were very involved in the Champions League against Bayern Munich and we were as well in the Conference League.
“There aren’t many things similar to last year, it’s going to be different and we have to try to play, competing with the idea we have. We have to build the team like we are doing and try to get confidence and good feelings. We are very motivated and we’re going to try to play, improving things we did in Everton. Tomorrow we play one of the candidates and favourites to win the Premier League.”
Team news

It remains to be seen if Riccardo Calafiori will be available to Mikel Arteta for this game after the Italian international missed the past couple of matches with a muscle complaint.
Gabriel Jesus is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after it was confirmed he has an ACL injury, and joins Bukayo Saka (hamstring), Ben White (knee), Ethan Nwaneri (groin) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) in the treatment room.
Villa could hand a debut to our former academy player Donyell Malen, after the Dutch forward completed a move from Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.
John McGinn missed the midweek trip to Everton with a hamstring issue and will miss this game as well, while Ross Barkley nurses a calf issue that looks set to keep him out for a couple of weeks.
Defenders Pau Torres and Diego Carlos have been long-term casualties, but Jhon Duran returned from suspension at Goodison Park, while Emiliano Martinez was back between the posts after what Emery described as a “small problem”.
Talking tactics

Adrian Clarke, writing in the official matchday programme: Emery has consistently chosen a 4-2-3-1 this season as Aston Villa’s primary shape. They do not press as ferociously as when he first arrived, and only Nottingham Forest average fewer pressures inside the final third.
Villa’s preferred tactic out of possession is to drop into a narrow mid-block preventing service into central midfielders, while on the ball they want to build through the thirds and look for precise forward passes. With Ollie Watkins and Duran both excellent at running off the shoulder of the last man, it’s no surprise Villa have attempted the most through balls in the division, while both are especially good at getting on the end of crosses, netting five of Villa’s seven headed goals between them.
Villa like to commit numbers to their attacks. This makes them dangerous opponents but, if play can be broken up, they can leave themselves light on numbers at the back. Emery’s side have conceded four goals from counter-attacks in 2024/25, the third-highest number of concessions.
Making stray passes under pressure or players being caught in possession in their own half has also been a theme, with 10 errors leading to goals, and only Wolves have more. Villa have not finished matches especially well either, letting in 11 goals after the 76th minute, which is the highest figure among all 20 top-flight sides.
Facts and stats

Aston Villa will be looking to win consecutive away league games against us for the first time since November 1993.
Villa have won five of their last 10 league meetings with us, as many as they had in their previous 46.
None of the last 18 league meetings between the teams have been drawn. We have only had a longer run against Newcastle (19 from 2012-2022).
Having lost just one of their first 13 Premier League away games against London sides under Emery, Villa have lost their last two visits to the capital by an aggregate score of 7-1.
We haven’t lost any of our last 44 games in all competitions in which we’ve scored a goal (W36 D8) since a 2-1 defeat against Fulham in December 2023.
Ollie Watkins has only netted more top-flight goals against Brighton (7) than against us (5), with three of those coming at Emirates Stadium.
Match officials

Chris Kavanagh takes charge of us for the third time this campaign, having overseen our home draw against Brighton, when he controversially dismissed Declan Rice, as well as the 1-1 stalemate at Fulham. In fact, we have drawn each of the last four games he has officiated, and you have to go back to our 2-0 win at Newcastle United in May 2023 for the last time we won under his watch.
Villa also drew 1-1 with Bournemouth in their only match overseen by Kavanagh this term, while you have to rewind to November 2022 for their last victory. They’ve only won six of 18 the Lancashire-based official has refereed, but two were wins at our expense - both at Villa Park in 2020 and 2021.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
Assistants: Lee Betts, Neil Davies
Fourth official: John Busby
VAR: John Brooks
Assistant VAR: Darren Cann
Recent visits from Villa
Villa put a huge dent in our title aspirations last term as they ran out 2-0 victors last April, with Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins netting to seal only a third Premier League double at our expense.
The campaign before, we won 2-1 in August 2022 when Jesus opened the scoring before Douglas Luiz equalised straight from a corner. However the Brazilian magic continued when Gabriel Martinelli fired in on 77 minutes to claim victory.
A 3-1 win was recorded in October 2021 thanks to goals from Thomas Partey, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Emile Smith Rowe, back when Villa were under the management of Dean Smith.
Live coverage

Tune into Arsenal.com and the official app from half an hour before kick-off, as Nicole Holliday and Jeremie Aliadiere will be pitchside to bring you the best build-up!
TV presenter and huge Gooner Roman Kemp will join them to discuss the season so far, while they'll bring you all the key team news while Frimmy is down at the player’s entrance for arrivals, before throwing his Question of the Day to supporters around Emirates Stadium.
As well as another look back at Wednesday’s north London derby victory, there will be the usual look at the best bits of social media this week and everything you need to know about Aston Villa, before live commentary comes from Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke once the game is underway.
You can also find out which broadcasters are showing the action live, wherever you are in the world
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