Aston Villa vs Arsenal prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2024-08-23 16:30.
[p]It turned out to be a case of opening day delight for Aston Villa as Jhon Durán emerged from the bench to score a late winner in a 2-1 victory away to West Ham. The Colombian youngster looked set for a move to the London side this summer but instead, he helped Unai Emery’s outfit to make the perfect start to their 2024/25 Premier League campaign and now they’ll go in search of making it three league wins in succession against Arsenal for just the third time after also achieving the feat November 1993 and February 2021.[/p]
[p]Considering that Villa have lost just three of their last 26 home league outings (W19, D4), you wouldn’t put it past last season’s Champions League qualifiers to complete such a feat, especially after scoring 2+ goals in each of their last five such matches. But the Villans have also conceded nine goals across their last four outings at Villa Park which leaves them susceptible at the other end. [/p]
[p]Arsenal will look to exploit that weakness after they did similar to Wolves last weekend, running out comfortable 2-0 winners at the Emirates Stadium in their opening match. Strikes from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka did the damage as Mikel Arteta’s side got off to the perfect start in their bid to finally win the Premier League title for the first time since 2003/04. [/p]
[p]The Gunners enter here unbeaten across their last nine away league outings (W8, D1), a stunning string of form which has been built upon solid defensive foundations. Seven of those matches saw Arsenal keep a clean sheet, while overall, their tally of 11 clean sheets on the road was the highest in the Premier League last campaign by some distance. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: After netting in Aston Villa’s opener, Duran is currently averaging a goal every 103 minutes of league action – second only to Erling Haaland in Premier League history amongst players with 5+ goals in total! Arsenal’s Havertz both scored and assisted on matchday one to take his tally to eight goal contributions across his last six Premier League outings (G5, A3).[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Aston Villa’s home Premier League matches last season averaged four goals in total – the joint-highest in the competition.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Nathan Evans[/i][/p]