Two teams who tasted victory on the opening weekend go head-to-head at Villa Park on Saturday, as we aim to transfer our incredible away form into the new season.
Having claimed 42 points on our travels last term, as well as conceding the fewest goals (13), and keeping the most clean sheets (11), we head to Birmingham looking to avenge back-to-back defeats at the hands of Villa as we aim to hit new heights in 2024/25.
Unai Emery’s team are the only side to beat us in the Premier League in 2024, and having beaten West Ham United at the London Stadium last Saturday, Villa are looking to win their opening two Premier League matches for just the fourth time.
Villa revamp
The occasion of Villa’s 150th season will see them grace the Champions League for the first time, courtesy of their fourth-place finish last term. A run of 16 wins from 17 league matches at Villa Park was the catalyst for that success, however, they finished 2023/24 with just three victories across their last nine games on home turf.
Eyeing to beef up his side, Emery has brought in £50 million man Amadou Onana, who scored when debuting against West Ham, and another £37 million went Chelsea’s way for left-back Ian Maatsen who impressed for the Netherlands at Euro 2024. Ross Barkley and Jaden Philogene returned to the club, while youngsters Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea arrived from Juventus.
To offset that, Douglas Luis headed to Turin for £42 million, Moussa Diaby went to Al-Ittihad for £50 million and Omari Kellyman and Cameron Archer made substantial switches to Chelsea and Southampton respectively. One man Emery will be relieved stayed was Jhon Duran, who seemed on the verge of joining West Ham before bagging the winner at their expense.
What the managers say
Arteta: “It’s one of the toughest places to go for sure. We know that, we’ve prepared really well to understand what we have to do to go there and win the game. They dominate every aspect of the game, when you give them space to run they are phenomenal, when there is no space and they have to find it they can do that. In any restarts or set-pieces, they are at it.
“Tomorrow we go there with that belief and being very clear in what we want to do and what we have to do to earn the right to win the game, and we will certainly try to do that.”
Emery: “Tomorrow is a very difficult three points against one of the favourite teams this year to win the league. They are improving a lot and they are being very competitive, more and more. It’s a big challenge for us tomorrow. We are excited, we are motivated, but we have to show again our capacity. The challenge is motivating for us and our supporters to face them.
“We are playing in Villa Park tomorrow, the first match this year. I am very, very motivated and very focused on how we can compete as soon as possible at our best level. Some players are adapting to our idea but not completely like I want yet. Tomorrow we have to get our best performances individually and collectively to beat them.”
Team news
Fabio Vieira missed last weekend with a hip issue but has been training this week as he hopes to return to the matchday squad. Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and Kieran Tierney (hamstring) continue to rehab their respective issues picked up during the summer.
Having come off with cramp against Wolves, Declan Rice is fine to feature at Villa Park.
Emery remains without Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara who continue to recover from the knee injuries that kept them out of the majority of last season, while Matty Cash came off with eight minutes to go last weekend with a knock to his thigh but is expected to be fine.
Backup goalkeeper Robin Olsson missed the opening day with a knee complaint, but Emi Buendia returned to the bench after also suffering an ACL tear last term.
Talking tactics
Adrian Clarke: From a tactical perspective Emery was extremely shrewd when Villa beat us 2-0 in April. In the second period he dropped his back four deeper to shrink the space between the lines inside their own half, rather than holding their usual high line. That stopped us running in behind and slowed down our attacks, so I can see our former head coach trying to replicate that ploy.
The key will be finding ways to unlock that set-up. If Villa hold a line on halfway, looking for offsides, well-timed runs from deep could hurt them. Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli are two players who are especially clever when making sprints beyond the last defender.
Aside from the obvious threat that Ollie Watkins carries, Leon Bailey will arguably need the most attention. The Jamaican stays high and wide on Villa’s right wing and has pace to burn. He produced a great assist in this fixture last term and scored in north London.
The midfield battle will also be fascinating. I expect Morgan Rogers to drop into the engine room from his No.10 role when we have the ball, and John McGinn to shuffle inside from the left. If the centre of the pitch becomes crowded, we must move the ball quickly and efficiently to the wings, to stretch play and isolate Villa’s full-backs. That is the way to beat teams who block up the spine.
Facts and stats
Villa have won five of the last nine league meetings, as many wins as they’d managed in their previous 46 matches against us. They have only beaten us in three consecutive Premier League meetings twice before - November 1993 and February 2021.
Aston Villa have won their opening home game in each of the last four campaigns, keeping three clean sheets in the process. Meanwhile we have won four of our last five opening away games.
None of the last 17 Premier League meetings between the teams have finished level, since a goalless draw at Emirates Stadium in 2012/13.
We have scored 98 Premier League goals against Aston Villa, only netting more against Everton (124), West Ham (109) and Tottenham (105).
We are unbeaten in our last nine Premier League away games. We last went 10+ successive matches without defeat on the road between March and December 2016 (a run of 12). We haven’t trailed for a single minute in any of those nine games, and have never gone 10 successive away matches in the competition without falling behind.
We have won 17 of 19 games in 2024; in Football League history, the most wins by a side in their first 20 matches in a year is 18 (Liverpool in 1982, Man City in 2019 and 2021).
Among all Premier League players with 5+ goals, Duran has the second-best minutes per goal ratio (one every 103 mins), behind Erling Haaland (one every 85 mins). Five of his six goals have been as a sub, the second-highest ratio by a player in Premier League history (min. 5 goals), behind Matt Derbyshire, who scored nine of his 10 goals as a sub.
Victory for Bukayo Saka would see him become the fourth player to win 100 Premier League games before turning 23 after Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas and Phil Foden. He has had a hand in 14 goals across his last 18 away Premier League appearances, while he’s scored in two of his last three visits to Villa Park.
Ollie Watkins has scored five goals in eight Premier League appearances against us, only netting more against Brighton (6).
Match officials
A familiar face in Michael Oliver oversees us for the first time this campaign, having refereed six games last term, of which we won five, despite him showing us a red card and giving two penalties against us. That took us to 29 wins from 58 matches he has been in charge of.
He managed Villa just once last season - a 3-2 win at Luton Town. That was just the 11th win from 36 matches Oliver has run the rule over the Villans.
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistants: Stuart Burt, Dan Cook
Fourth official: Darren England
VAR: Peter Bankes
Assistant VAR: Eddie Smart
Recent trips to Villa Park
We have won 14 away Premier League games at Villa Park, our joint-most victories at a single away venue in the competition, tied with Selhurst Park.
However having gone unbeaten at the venue in the league between March 2000 and December 2015, we have since lost three of their last five visits, including last December’s 1-0 loss when John McGinn’s early effort proved to be the difference.
The season before, a late flurry of goals saw us claim a 4-2 success, helped by Emiliano Martinez’s own goal and a Gabriel Martinelli strike on the counter-attack, while Bukayo Saka struck the only goal of the game to claim a 1-0 success in March 2022.
Live coverage
You can keep up to date with all the goings-on at Villa Park via live commentary on Arsenal.com and the official app, with Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke taking you through the action - simply tune in from 5.25pm UK time.
You can also find out which TV broadcasters are showing the action live, wherever you are in the world.
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