Arsenal vs Aston Villa predicted XIs: Confirmed team news and probable line-ups
The battle for the Premier League title and the top four will be the focus when Arsenal host Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday at 4:30pm (UK time).
After a 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final first leg in midweek, Arsenal now switch their attention to the fight for the English crown when they face the Villans in north London.
The Gunners suffered a 1-0 defeat at Villa Park when these sides met earlier in the season and they know that they will not have it easy against their former manager Unai Emery’s high-flyers, as they are in the thick of the fight to finish in the top four to secure a place in next season’s Champions League.
Having won both of their last two meetings at home against the Midlands outfit, Mikel Arteta’s men will be looking to secure the hat-trick to maintain their position at the top of the table, above Liverpool only on goal difference.
Watkins and Saka go head-to-head
Two England internationals who will be hoping to be on the plane to Germany for the European Championships this summer, Ollie Watkins and Bakayo Saka will face off on Sunday. Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate is expected to name both players in his squad, with Wakins and Saka both having enjoyed impressive seasons so far.
Watkins, who has previously been linked with a move to his boyhood club Arsenal, has scored 18 Premier League goals this season and finds himself just one behind Golden Boot frontrunner Erling Haaland. Saka, meanwhile, has contributed 14 goals to the Arsenal cause in the league this season, helping put the Gunners in the driving seat to land their first Premier League title in 20 years.
Southgate will certainly have eyes on the action at the Emirates, with Arsenal hoping to take another step closer to securing that elusive English crown.
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Arsenal vs Aston Villa team news
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has just the one player sidelined, with Jurrien Timber still in the treatment room after the ACL problem he picked up in the opening game of the season against Nottingham Forest. The positive news is Timber has returned to training but Sunday’s arrival of the Villans comes a little too soon for the Dutchman.
As for Villa, Emery has far more injury concerns with the likes of Matty Cash, Clement Lenglet, Tyrone Mings, Jacob Ramsey, Boubacar Kamara and Emiliano Buendia all on the sidelines. The visitors will also have to do without the suspended Douglas Luiz on Sunday after the Brazilian picked up his 10th yellow card of the campaign against Brentford last time out.
Star striker Watkins missed the recent defeat to Manchester City in the Premier League but has since played against Brentford and Lille in the Europa Conference League without any injury setbacks.
Arsenal vs Aston Villa predicted line-ups
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Jesus.
Aston Villa (4-4-2): Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne; Bailey, McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers; Watkins, Duran.
