Premier League: Aston Villa vs. Arsenal Preview, Odds, Prediction

Aston Villa and Arsenal meet on Saturday and open the entire English Premier League round. Things are going fine for the hosts, who aren’t in a stressful position right now. They didn’t expect to reach the international stage and are on the other end, safe regarding the relegation battle. Steven Gerrard is doing his part of the job well, and in general, the fans and the board are pleased with the current situation. Arsenal lost at the Emirates this Wednesday and is now under massive pressure. Their advantage over Man City decreased severely, and there is no room for them to  

Preview

Aston Villa (+333) and Steven Gerrard are in the middle of the standings at a safe distance from the relegation battle and far away from the top five places. They are in a story of their own, but overall, doing an average job this year. 

The Villains suffered back-to-back losses in the past two events, failing at home to Leicester, 2-4, and then on the road against Manchester City, who didn’t have any trouble in routing Gerrard’s crew, 3-1. After a very confident opening 45 minutes, the hosts slowed down, allowing Villa to net once.

Meanwhile, the efficiency of their games is pretty high, and four of the past five were with both teams netting and over 2.5 goals, while one in the previous six ended without both units delivering a goal. When it comes to Villa’s home events, eight of the most recent seven were with both teams scoring.

Arsenal (-120) can’t make any mistakes from now on. They and Citizens are leveled at the top position, and the champs have the tiebreaker in their favor. Though, what presents a light at the end of the tunnel for Arteta and the boys is the game in hand they have over the top rival for the title.

On the other side, the Gunners’ form could be better, with them not winning the past four events. It all started against Man City in the FA Cup and, after that, continued through the EPL games.

At first, Everton took down Arsenal at Goodison, 1-0, then they played just 1-1 at home to Brentford before losing on Wednesday night at home to the Citizens. This was the fifth time in a row for Arteta’s defense to concede, which isn’t good at all. He needs to find a way to stabilize the back line; otherwise, Arsenal can say bye to the Premiership trophy. 

Head to Head Games

Arsenal was better in the opening meeting at the Emirates, 2-1. Jesus and Martinelli managed to hit a goal, while Douglas Luiz scored for the guests.

In last year’s events, Arsenal was better on both occasions, 3-1 in London and 0-1 in Birmingham. Overall, 

Prediction

After analyzing everything, the best pick, in this case, would be for both teams to score. Arsenal showed certain weakness in the back line in the past few weeks, while on the other side, their attack is more or less good. As for Villa, Gerrard’s defense is far from solid and maybe the worst part of the unit, unlike the attack that delivers goals regularly. 

Pick: Both teams to score -115

More EPL previews:

• Newcastle vs. Liverpool
• Tottenham vs. West Ham