Aston Villa vs Arsenal Prediction & Odds
EPL Leaders Take on Villa
Arsenal Coming off Last Minute Win
The Premier League has produced some wild matches this season and Tuesday’s game between Luton Town and Arsenal was no exception. The Gunners fell behind 3-2 in the second half and came back to win 4-3 with a last minute goal. Arsenal enter the weekend on top of the Premier League table and now take on Aston Villa in Birmingham on Saturday. Villa have played excellently as of late and defeated Manchester City 1-0 on Wednesday. Ahead of one of the biggest EPL matches of the weekend, check out our Aston Villa vs. Arsenal predictions.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal
Date, time:
Location: Villa Park. Birmingham, England
Streaming: Live Sports Stream
Head-to-Head
Last season’s EPL scores were 2-1 in favor of Arsenal at the Emirates and 4-2 to the Gunners at Villa Park. Arsenal have won the last four matches in this fixture. Previously, Aston Villa were on a three-game winning streak in this fixture. Last season’s match in Birmingham was particularly entertaining.
Arsenal fell behind 2-1 but Oleksandr Zinchenko scored an equalizer, was was his first goal for the Gunners. Arsenal took the lead in stoppage time on an outrageous Jorginho first time strike that struck the crossbar, hit former Arsenal goalie Emi Martinez’s head and went into the goal. Gabriel Martinelli added a fourth for Arsenal just before the final whistle.
Aston Villa Reach New High
Aston Villa’s rise under Unai Emery has been incredible to witness. Villa reached a new high on Wednesday as they defeated three-time defending champions Manchester City, 1-0. City were missing Rodri, who they haven’t won without this season, but Aston Villa thoroughly dominated. The stats from the match almost seem fabricated, as Aston Villa outshot Manchester City 22-2.
Villa kept pushing to take the lead and had a number of excellent chances. Aston Villa keeper Emi Martinez also made a superb stop on an Erling Haaland header. Finally, the breakthrough came on a deflected shot that Leon Bailey took and Aston Villa have now won their last 14 matches at home in the Premier League. That equals a club record, and they’ll need no extra motivation to extend their streak on Saturday vs. league leaders Arsenal. Emery was Arsenal’s coach from 2018-19 before getting sacked and Arteta never quite promised Martinez the starting goalkeeper job. Saturday’s Premier League odds price Villa as +230 underdogs for the match, though.
Villa Park has become a fortress and the place was absolutely rocking on Wednesday. With the win, Villa moved up to third place in the Premier League, ahead of Manchester City. It would be a huge success if Emery is able to guide Villa into the Champions League this season. They come into this match just four points behind leaders Arsenal.
Arsenal Hitting Their Stride
Arsenal and last minute heroics have become synonymous lately. The Gunners were heavy favorites to defeat Luton Town on Tuesday and led 2-1 at halftime on goals from the Brazilian duo of Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus. However, two errors from Arsenal keeper David Raya allowed Luton to take a 3-2 lead early in the second half. Jesus provided an assist for Kai Havertz as Arsenal leveled the match in the 60th minute. Arsenal kept pushing for a winner but it didn’t come until the last kick of the match.
Martin Odegaard sent in a first time cross that Declan Rice confidently headed home as Arsenal pulled off an important 4-3 comeback win. Rice’s £105 million price tag hasn’t seemed so lofty based on his excellent performances this season. Arsenal are hitting their stride and have won six straight matches, in all competitions, including their last four EPL games.
Havertz is finally looking comfortable playing the left eight under Mikel Arteta as well. The big German has scored three goals in Arsenal’s last four games and his best performance in an Arsenal shirt was on Tuesday. Odegaard is also looking more like himself after an up and down start to the season. Aston Villa vs Arsenal predictions should take into account the fact that Takehiro Tomiyasu, Fabio Vieira, Emile Smith Rowe, Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber are all injured.
Match Analysis & Odds
The last team to defeat Aston Villa at Villa Park in the Premier League was none other than Arsenal back in February. That was a wild match and this could be another classic. Both teams are in excellent form and Arsenal have only lost one match this season, which happened under controversial circumstances. Villa are +230 home underdogs despite their long 14-game home EPL winning streak.
Bettors can also take Aston Villa pk, +0.5 at even odds for this one. Meanwhile, Arsenal pk, -0.5 sits at -120 as the Gunners go for their fifth straight Premier League win. If both teams go for it in this match, it could end up being a relatively wide open match. The first of our Aston Villa vs Arsenal predictions is that three or more goals will be scored on Saturday. So, over 2.5, 3 goals at -110 odds seems to be a solid pick. Neither team could be too upset with a draw, which is priced at +270.
We also think that both teams will get on the scoresheet here, and BTTS shows -175 odds. Arsenal’s frontline has been on fire as of late and the Gunners have averaged four goals per game in their last three. Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus should cause a bunch of problems for Villa. Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins have also been two of the best attacking players in the league this season.
