Match Day

Arsenal vs Aston Villa | Premier League | Gameweek 22 - Jan 18

When Aston Villa's team travels to the Emirates to play Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday night, head coach Unai Emery hopes to take another scalp at his old club.

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Arsenal vs Aston Villa | Premier League | Gameweek 22 - Jan 18

Arsenal vs Aston Villa - Match Preview

Match Details:

NAME: Arsenal vs Aston Villa
DATE: Jan 18, 2025
TIME: 5.30pm UK
VENUE: Emirates Stadium

When is Arsenal vs Aston Villa?

Arsenal vs Aston Villa is scheduled for an 8pm UK kick-off on Wednesday, Jan 15, 2025.

How to watch?

Hotstar in India, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League in UK, Peacock, FuboTV, UNIVERSO and NBC in US & Fubo Sports Network in Canada will all be airing live coverage of the event.

Live Match

Arsenal vs Aston Villa Team News

Arsenal Team News

Arsenal's victory over Tottenham on Wednesday was their first match since Gabriel Jesus suffered a devastating ACL injury, which will surely keep him out for the remainder of the season as they look everywhere for January additions.

Along with Bukayo Saka (hamstring), Ethan Nwaneri (muscle), Ben White (knee), and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Jesus is one of five Arsenal players who will undoubtedly miss Saturday's match. Riccardo Calafiori is also in a race against time to recover from a muscular issue.

After an outstanding performance in the North London derby, local player Myles Lewis-Skelly should keep his spot at left-back if the latter is cut. Raheem Sterling, on the other hand, did not have the same kind of impact and will undoubtedly give his spot to Gabriel Martinelli.

Aston Villa Team News

In addition to claiming that defender Diego Carlos had "a small injury" prior to the Everton victory, Emery is anticipated to keep Aston Villa without Pau Torres (foot), Ross Barkley (calf), and John McGinn (thigh) for the foreseeable future.

In the midst of rumors that he might be sold to Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce, the Brazilian publicly denied Emery's claim on social media. Speaking of transfers, Jaden Philogene was revealed as an Ipswich Town loan player on Wednesday night.

Watkins, a devoted Arsenal supporter who scored Villa's second goal at the Emirates last season, will undoubtedly keep his spot up front, but Jhon Duran, who is still awaiting his first Premier League minutes of 2025, was an unused substitute at Goodison Park after serving his suspension.

Donyell Malen may also make his Villa debut in Saturday's matchup against the team he played for as a young player from 2015 to 2017, but the recent Borussia Dortmund addition shouldn't be considered for a starting position right away.

Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Summary

Highlights - Arsenal vs Aston Villa

Check back later as we may have information for this match later.

In the midweek round of games, both teams gained ground: Villa defeated David Moyes 1-0 on his Everton homecoming, while the Gunners defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in a crucial North London derby.

Arsenal has missed opportunities to take advantage of their title rivals' mistakes on multiple occasions this season, but Mikel Arteta's team did not let another fantastic opportunity slip by on Tuesday after Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, and Liverpool all lost points.

Following back-to-back losses in the EFL Cup and FA Cup, Arsenal hosted a Spurs team that had won back-to-back in the knockout stages. However, form was unavoidably lost as Dominic Solanke's own goal and Leandro Trossard's goal negated Son Heung-min's opening goal.

Many of Arsenal's promising attacks stalled in the second half, underscoring the team's need for a merciless finisher in the January transfer window. However, Arteta's team never appeared to be in danger of losing their slim lead and are now back in second place in the Premier League standings.

The Gunners are now officially the best team in the Premier League when it comes to home form alone, and the gap to leaders Liverpool has been reduced to four points, even though the Reds still have a game against Everton coming up next month.

Although few Gooners will need to be reminded of the match that ultimately cost them the title in 2023–24, Arteta's team has taken an unprecedented 24 points out of a possible 30 at their Emirates headquarters, where they are still undefeated in the Premier League this season.

Last April, Emery dealt the final blow to the Gunners' Premier League hopes by orchestrating a 2-0 victory for Villa, which stands as the hosts' most recent top-flight loss at home. Emery had already finished his Arsenal retribution mission following his early 2019 departure.

The West Midlands team has condemned their terrible autumnal season to history and is coming off a third consecutive victory in all competitions, so they have a good chance of repeating that outcome this time around.

Villa won by a one-goal margin at Goodison Park on Wednesday, after starting 2025 with consecutive 2-1 victories over West Ham United and Leicester City in the league and FA Cup, respectively. Ollie Watkins condemned Moyes to a losing start to his second stint as Everton manager.

Emery's seventh-place team is now only three points outside of the Champions League spots as a result of the victory on Merseyside. The Lions had previously lost five straight Premier League games away from home and had failed to keep a clean sheet since their victory at the Emirates last April.

Arsenal, however, has already exacted revenge for that heartbreaking loss with a 2-0 victory at Villa Park in August. This is still the Lions' only Premier League home loss of the season, and making amends for last season's home humiliation would allow them to pass yet another crucial test of their title credentials.

Predicted starting lineup

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Martinelli, Havertz, Trossard

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; Kamara, Onana; Rogers, Tielemans, Bailey; Watkins

Arsenal vs Aston Villa