Arsenal vs Aston Villa
Premier League 2019/20 season
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Date: Sunday, 22 October, 2019
Kick-off time: 4:30pm BST
The air of optimism around the Emirates that accompanied Arsenal's summer transfer activity has begun to fade after a tumultuous start to the campaign.
Unai Emery has come under fire after the Gunners threw away a two-goal lead at bottom side Watford last weekend, with defensive errors from centre-backs David Luiz and Sokratis costing them dearly.
Newly promoted Aston Villa have already had one unhappy visit to north London this season, having lost 3-1 away at Tottenham on the opening day.
Dean Smith's side were held to a 0-0 draw at Villa Park by West Ham on Monday night, and have so far managed just one win, against Everton, since returning to the top flight.
Team news and predicted lineups
Full-backs Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin are not yet fit to return for Arsenal, despite being back in training.
Fellow defender Rob Holding travelled to Germany for Thursday night's Europa League meeting with Frankfurt as he nears a return, though he did not feature in the matchday squad. Emery used that game to rotate his squad, with Shkodran Mustafi, Emiliano Martinez, Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe all making their first starts of the season.
French forward Alexandre Lacazette is out until October with an ankle injury.
The visitors could have Matt Targett back from a thigh injury, but Jonathan Kodjia and James Chester are still out. Trezeguet is back from suspension.
Arsenal XI: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Luiz, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Ceballos, Guendouzi, Nelson, Aubameyang, Pepe.
Aston Villa XI: Heaton, Guilbert, Engels, Mings, Taylor, Luiz, Grealish, McGinn, El Ghazi, Trezeguet, Wesley
Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Aston Villa
The majority of the Gunners' struggles tend to come on the road, and, in the main, their home form has been good.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is in lethal goalscoring form, and should have too much for the Villa back line, though they have conceded just once in their last three league games.
Tickets
Click here for more information about Arsenal tickets.
Betting tips via Betfair | UK users only | Subject to change
Match odds
- Arsenal to win: 2/5
- Draw: 4/1
- Aston Villa to win: 15/2
First goal scorer
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 13/5
- Nicolas Pepe: 7/2
- Mesut Ozil: 17/2
- Wesley: 10/1
TV channel and live stream information
The match will be televised live on Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Ultra HD, and is available via NOW TV with a 10-month season ticket on offer for £199.
Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via SkyGo and the SkyGo app.
You can follow all the action and analysis on Standard Sport's LIVE blog with our team at the Emirates.
Head to head (h2h) results and history
Arsenal have won 82 of the meetings between the sides, with Villa triumphing on 66 occasions, and the two sides sharing 45 draws.
Arsenal have won the last five meetings between the sides by an aggregate score of 18-0, including a 4-0 win in the 2015 FA Cup final.
