Aston Villa v Arsenal

In this article, we’ve done a little preview and shared our predictions ahead of this clash. Let’s get right into it.

Opening weekend

These sides couldn’t have had a more opposite start to the season. The hosts Aston Villa were awful and paid the price, losing 4-0 against Brighton. To make it worse, Villa went down to 10 men, but the scoreline was already 4-0 at that point.

Meanwhile, Arsenal had a comfortable 3-0 win against newly promoted side Coventry, who suffered defeat in their 2nd match after losing to Hull on Saturday. So you could argue Arsenal winning 3-0 isn’t something to look too much into.

Looking ahead at tonights meeting

Some positive news for Aston Villa as Jackson and Goretzka have both been registered in time to face Arsenal. Whether they start or play the full 90 is another thing, of course, but it could just give the fans and the team a boost.

For Arsenal, Arteta did not rule out Bruno Guimaraes returning from a minor groin issue either, but he isn’t likely to play the full 90. Konsa isn’t expected to start either. It’s likely to be the same 11 that started against Coventry, with maybe 1 or 2 changes.

Match predictions

Let’s get into the predictions side of things. There is, of course, very little stats to work with since both sides have only played once, but based on past meetings, last season’s stats, how the teams started this season and the transfers, here is how we think tonight will go.

Over 2.5 goals

The last 3 head-to-head meetings have all seen over 2.5 goals, and I think today will be the 4th consecutive time.

Aston Villa didn’t score last week and will want to make sure they get a goal in their first home match of the season. Going forward, they still possess some quality, although losing some of the quality they had won’t make it easy.

We don’t need to question Arsenal. They have quality all over the pitch and shouldn’t have trouble finding the net today. Either team could go on to win 2-1 or even 3-1, or we could see Arsenal score 3 goals if Aston Villa don’t get going.


Corners – Over 8.5 corners

Arsenal didn’t have any trouble getting corners in their opening game of the season, getting a total of 8 corners while conceding 2. Villa, on the other hand, conceded plenty of corners, with that number being 5, but had just 2 themselves. However, we’ve got to take into account they had 10 men for the entire second half and had no motivation going forward being 4-0 down.

Arsenal cannot afford to switch off in this one. It won’t be a walk in the park, Villa still have plenty of quality and also have the home advantage.I reckon both sides will see corners today and think we will just about hit the 9 corners by around the 80th minute mark or something. I reckon it’ll be close, but we’ll get there.

Cards- Over 1.5 cards

We’ve played it safe for the 3rd and final prediction: 2 or more cards.

I don’t think we’ll see 6 or 7 cards, but 3 cards in a match that should be pretty competitive for the full 90 is certainly possible. Or we could see one team dominate and the other losing their heads, so 2 is a safer number to back.

The odds on this aren’t great, but it boosts the odds on the bet builder up to the respectable 3.00 mark. Last week, Arsenal had 1 booking while Villa had 3 yellow cards.

Summary

• Over 2.5 goals
• Over 8.5 corners
• Over 1.5 cards

We’re backing these predictions in a bet builder with odds of 3.00+.

We know it’s not mega odds, but it’s very early in the season and there really isn’t much data/stats to go by.

Remember to bet responsibly.