As the dust settles on the Premier League’s opening matches for the 24/25 campaign, the action continues to come thick and fast, with an enticing match-up between two Champion’s League qualifiers of 2023/24 as Aston Villa face a visit from Arsenal.
The Villains and The Gunners were both successful in their bids for a strong start, with a dramatic, headline-grabbing winner from Jhon Duran, who was heavily expected to make a move to the club he defeated, seeing off West Ham in London, whilst in the other corner of the capital, a professional and clinical show from Arsenal saw Wolves kicked to the curb.
In one of the more encapsulating fixtures from the season’s first battles, Aston Villa will be hoping to repeat their victory over Arsenal from last season, as Unai Emery again prepares for a visit from his former employers.
9 pundits have had their say. Let us know below if you agree with any of them.
Pundits’ Premier League Champions Predictions
Michael Owen – Arsenal
Karen Carney – Manchester City
Darren Bent – Arsenal
Tim Sherwood – Manchester City
Shay Given – Manchester City
Mark Schwarzer – Manchester City
Don Hutchison – Manchester City
Leon Osman – Arsenal
Matt Holland – Manchester City
Aston Villa Team News
Emery to ponder changes
Aston Villa have been thrown no concerning surprises or heartaches surrounding team selection, though Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara will remain in place as long-term absentees.
One player who may see his place in doubt will be Matty Cash, with the Poland international withdrawn with a knock in the win over West Ham on opening day. The 27-year-old Nottingham Forest product’s future is also in doubt at Villa Park, with Italian giants AC Milan rumoured to be circling his name on their shortlist.
The main headached given to Emery ahead of his former side’s visit will be surrounding rotation. Jhon Duran, the match-winner from the bench against West Ham, who he was heavily touted to make a transfer to this summer, will be gunning for a start after his heroics in London last time out, but it will be a tough call to get him into the attack’s spearhead ahead of Ollie Watkins.
Ian Maatsen and Jacob Ramsey, who both made impressive cameos at the London Stadium, will both be hoping that their short displays in place of Lucas Digne and John McGinn, respectively, will be enough to put them in contention for their first starts of the season.
Despite Duran’s goalscoring heroism in London in Villa’s opener, we don’t expect that to be enough to displace Ollie Watkins from the helm of the attack.
We do expect there to be changes to the wide defence, however, with Ian Maatsen making the switch for Lucas Digne on the left-flank of the back line, and Kosta Nedeljkovic making a start in place of Cash, who’s injury is not perceived as serious, but may leave him unrisked.
Elsewhere, it is business as usual. Emi Martinez will continue on in goal, with Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres forming the centre of his wall in front, flanked by the aforementioned Maatsen and Nedeljkovic, more than likely.
A strong, scoring debut for Amadou Onana will be followed by another start in the deep midfield alongside Youri Tielemans, whilst it is likely to see the attacking midfield triumvirate of John McGinn, Morgan Rogers and Leon Bailey continue on behind Watkins in the attack.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are unlikely to make any alterations to the side that saw off Wolves on their respective opening day.
Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu remain injured, and will stay on the shelf for this fixture, but Fabio Vieira may be fit enough to contend in Birmingham, after battling with a hip injury that saw him left out of the win over Wolves.
Eddie Nketiah, meanwhile, may not make an appearance in the squad at all after being left unused on opening day, with interest in his signature being rife by way of Nottingham Forest, who are in negotiations with the club over a potential £30m transfer for the 25-year-old.
Arsenal also remain in talks with Real Sociedad for the transfer of Spain’s Euro 2024 hero Mikel Merino, but a deal being finalised before the weekend is highly unlikely to result in an appearance for the former Newcastle man.
The Spaniard, 28, is expected to join the north Londoners in the coming weeks, per Fabrizio Romano.
Despite a debut for Riccardo Calafiori and a return to action for Jurrien Timber, we don’t expect Arteta to make any alterations to his winning side, with goalscorers Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz likely to stay in place, joined by Gabirel Martinelli in the attacking third.
The midfield will be supplied with Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey and Declan Rice, and the standard-issue defence of Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel and Oleksandr Zinchenko is likely to stay put, with David Raya taking his place in the sticks as their day-one opponents Wolves delve into a deal for his deputy, Aaron Ramsdale.
