Preview: Aston Villa v Arsenal

A 10-day break between games at this stage of the season is unusual, and much has changed for both teams in that time, no more so than Ezri Konsa transferring between the clubs as the transfer market heats up.

Unai Emery will be delighted to see the summer window slam shut 24 hours after the conclusion of this game, with more big names from Villa’s recent success following our new defender in waving goodbye in recent days. With new faces on both sides set to make their bows, this early meeting between two Champions League sides will certainly be an intriguing one.

Villa completed a dream season last term, clinching Champions League football for the second time in three years by finishing fourth in the table, and winning the Europa League by beating Freiburg 3-0 in the final to lift their first piece of silverware in 30 years. But since then, things have gone disastrously for Emery.

The squad that has shone so brightly under his watch has been broken up this summer, with Morgan Rogers’ £117 million move to Chelsea followed by Youri Tielemans moving to Manchester United. Lucas Digne headed to Paris Saint-Germain, Ezri Konsa is now a Gunner, and Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Martinez also opted for moves elsewhere, meaning only five starters from the Europa League final remain at the club.

To offset these losses, big money landed Wolves’ Joao Gomes and Swiss World Cup star Johann Manzambi, but neither will be available for this game. A new keeper, Zion Suzuki, has been brought in; Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been borrowed from West Ham United, while Matteo Ruggeri and Leon Goretzka have arrived from Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively. 

Having already taken Chelsea’s Alejandro Garnacho on loan, Nicolas Jackson has now followed him to Villa Park to replace Watkins, but a UEFA Super Cup loss to PSG and a humbling 4-0 opening-day loss at Brighton, where they conceded all the goals before half-time, have seen last season’s champagne quickly turn flat.

Arteta: “This is the best squad that we have, or we believe that we could have right now, and that’s it. That’s not the best squad that we’re going to have in a month’s time because hopefully the players will improve, the team will improve and we’ll be better.

“[Emery] is one of the most experienced managers in the league, and one of the most successful without a shadow of a doubt. What Villa did last year and how they finished, it was an incredible season. It’s just one game and that’s it – I’m sure he will turn it around.”

“Monday is the next challenge and the Premier League is not waiting. There are 38 matches to play, points to play for and we have lost the first match. On Monday, hopefully Villa Park is like we always felt there – supporting, playing with us. We will need them again.”

Arteta will hope to hand Bruno Guimaraes his Premier League debut for us after the Brazilian sat out the win against Coventry with a groin issue sustained in the Community Shield, but has returned to training.

Konsa could get his Gunners bow against his former club following his move, while Jurrien Timber continues to be pushed during his rehab from a groin injury and is closing in on a return, albeit this game might come too early. William Saliba’s long-term back issue is our only other injury concern.

Aside from Martinez and Watkins, Villa will definitely be without Gomes who picked up a red card on his debut against Brighton and is suspended, further depleting a midfield which is already without Amadou Onana who is set to miss the entire campaign with an ACL injury, as well as another new boy in Manzambi.

Their striking options are also thinning with Tammy Abraham struggling with a groin issue, while Brian Madjo missed the opening day of the league season with a knock. New recruits Jackson, Suzuki, Wan-Bissaka and Goretzka could all debut.

Adrian Clarke: The big tactical takeaway from Villa’s game against Brighton was how they failed to cope with the press. Determined to play out from the back, even up against a hostile man-to-man set-up, Emery’s men were caught on the ball numerous times, especially when passes were fed into central midfield. Conceding a league-high 19 high turnovers on MW1, we will have plenty of encouragement to close down Villa’s players with aggression.

Incidentally, this tactic worked brilliantly for us in the second half of our stunning 4-1 home win over Villa last term, so I sense we will try to hassle the hosts in a man-to-man press again. This comes with risk, leaving ourselves 1v1 or 2v2 at the back, but while Villa always posed a huge threat on the break, without Rogers and Watkins, that danger feels slightly diminished.

Another way we may look to hurt the Villains is by launching accurate switches of play, especially to our left-hand side, where Christos Tzolis and Riccardo Calafiori enjoyed lots of success against Coventry. When the Italian pushes forward on the inside, he will look to create a 2v1 around the right-back. We scored our opener from that type of situation last time out, whereas Villa also conceded a very similar goal last weekend.

Experienced midfielder John McGinn is now arguably the most impactful Villa starter. The Scot occupies a narrow right-wing position that makes him difficult to pick up, and he usually shines in the biggest games. We must not allow him too much space in the pockets, because he is talented enough to hurt any team in the division.

Aston Villa have won four of their seven home games against us since their return to the Premier League in 2019, more than they had in their first 24 against us at Villa Park in the competition.

Aston Villa have only lost more Premier League games against Manchester United (42) and Liverpool (35) than they have against us (33).

We have won seven of our last 10 evening kick-offs against Aston Villa in the Premier League (7pm or later), including the last three in a row.

Aston Villa have won their last three Premier League home games against the reigning champions. The last team to do that in more successive uninterrupted seasons was Luton Town, who did it seven times in a row between 1985/86 and 1991/92.

We have won our first away game in each of the last four Premier League seasons, also keeping a clean sheet each time. We have never won our opening away game in five consecutive league campaigns before.

The last time Villa lost their first two league games in a season was in 2019/20, while the last time they lost both without scoring was in 2002/03.

Aston Villa have failed to score in five of their last six Premier League games in August, including the last four across the last two seasons. Unai Emery has lost 50% of his August games (8/16), his highest percentage in one month in the Premier League.

John McGinn has either scored or assisted a goal in each of his last six appearances at Villa Park in all competitions (5 goals, 2 assists).

Kai Havertz has been involved in seven goals in his last nine Arsenal appearances away from Emirates Stadium (5 goals, 2 assists).

Jared Gillett has been handed control of this game, and last season the Australian official proved to be a good omen for us as we won all three games under his watch – against Leeds United and Fulham at Emirates Stadium, plus the late win at Newcastle.

Gillett’s last Villa posting was a 4-1 home defeat at the hands of Chelsea back in March, but that was the first defeat in seven when refereeing the Villans, which included their 1-0 win over us in December 2023 when we controversially had a late winner ruled out for a Kai Havertz handball.

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Assistants: Neil Davies, Steve Meredith

Fourth official: Sam Barrott

VAR: James Bell

Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton

We have won 15 Premier League games at Villa Park, more than we have at any other away venue in the competition, but we couldn’t extend that record last season after Emiliano Buendia fired in a 95th-minute winner to beat us 2-1, after Leandro Trossard had cancelled out Matty Cash’s opener.

Our opening away game of the campaign also came in the claret half of Birmingham when we recorded a 2-0 victory, while the game before that was the aforementioned 1-0 loss when John McGinn did the damage with an early goal.

There will be live commentary of the game on Arsenal.com and The Arsenal app (download now on iOS/Android) from just before kick-off, when Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke will be behind the mics guiding you through all the on-field action.

You can also find out which broadcasters are showing the action live, wherever you are in the world.