Fixtures
- Aston Villa Vs. Arsenal – Sat, Aug 24th 2024, 17:30
Villa Park opens its doors for the first time this season on Saturday when Aston Villa take on Arsenal in the Premier League.
The home side are hunting successive wins to start the campaign following a 2-1 victory at West Ham United on the opening day.
Unai Emery will also hope to get the better of his former employers for the third game in a row after beating the Gunners 1-0 and 2-0 last term.
Opposite number Mikel Arteta is trying to end Arsenal’s 20-year wait for a league championship.
The north London side have finished second in the past two seasons, ending last season just two points adrift of champions Manchester City.
They began their quest for a title with a 2-0 triumph at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.
Stats
Aston Villa did the double over Arsenal last season, accounting for 40% of the Gunners’ Premier League defeats in 2023-24.
Arsenal have won 14 Premier League games at Villa Park, their joint-most at an away venue along with Selhurst Park.
Villa have won five of the past nine Premier League meetings, keeping a clean sheet each time. It’s as many victories as they’d managed in their previous 46 attempts against Arsenal.
Arsenal have won eight of their nine Premier League away games so far in 2024, drawing the other, scoring 28 goals and keeping seven clean sheets. It is their longest unbeaten away streak since a run of 12 in 2016 under Arsene Wenger.
Aston Villa are looking to win their opening two Premier League matches of a season for a fourth time, having done so in 1995-96, 1999-00 and 2020-21.
The Gunners have won 17 of their 19 top-flight matches in 2024, with their only defeat coming at home to Aston Villa in April. They can equal the record of 18 league wins from the first 20 matches of a calendar year, set by Liverpool in 1982 and matched by Manchester City in both 2019 and 2021.
Villa have won their opening home league fixture in each of the past four seasons – and began 2023-24 with eight straight top-flight victories at Villa Park.
Arsenal kept 11 Premier League away clean sheets last season, four more than any other club.
Morgan Rogers has scored in each of his last three Premier League appearances at Villa Park.
Kai Havertz has an unrivalled 17 Premier League goal involvements since mid-February, with 10 goals and seven assists in 15 appearances.
Unai Emery has lost only one of his seven matches as a manager versus Arsenal in all competitions, Villa’s 4-2 Premier League home defeat in February 2023 when the Gunners scored twice in stoppage time.
The Last Meeting
Villa secured a deserved Premier League victory against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium in April.
Both sides came close to opening the scoring in a goalless first half, with Ollie Watkins striking a shot against the post and Emi Martínez making a world-class save from Leandro Trossard.
But it was the away side who stepped up in the second half, taking the lead with six minutes remaining when substitute Leon Bailey tapped home Lucas Digne’s cross.
A second goal followed three minutes later via Watkins, who latched onto Youri Tielemans’ through ball and chipped David Raya.
Team News
Aston Villa have no new injury concerns ahead of the game, with long-term absentees Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara still out.
Arsenal are also in a good place when it comes to squad fitness, with Jurrien Timber’s availability the only doubt for Mikel Arteta.
Managers’ Pre-Match Thoughts
“We are excited, we are motivated, but we have to show again our capacity. If we are able to repeat with the different players, with the different ways, one year more here how we can compete, how we can face teams like Arsenal tomorrow. The challenge is motivating for us and our supporters to face them.” – Unai Emery
“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, and that’s why they did what they did. 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.” – Mikel Arteta
