Aston Villa vs Arsenal Preview, Team News, Likely Line-Ups, Key Man & Predicted Score

Arsenal will take on Aston Villa at Villa Park on Monday night needing a win to move back to the top of the Premier League.

The Gunners have dropped to third following wins for both Manchester City and Chelsea this weekend so will need all three points tomorrow in order to regain top spot.

Arsene Wenger’s men beat north London rivals Tottenham 2-0 in the FA Cup last Saturday but the win came at a huge cost with winger Theo Walcott being ruled out for the rest of the season after rupturing a cruciate ligament in his knee during the final stages of the game.

The win over Spurs made it four victories on the bounce for Arsenal following defeats of Cardiff, Newcastle and West Ham over the festive period, so we should be full of confidence heading into the game at Villa Park.

An added incentive for the team will be avenging our opening day defeat to Villa after Paul Lambert’s men ran out 3-1 victors at the Emirates.

The Midlanders have a woeful home record this season and it’s only their form on the road that’s kept them away from the relegation zone, so we should have a good opportunity of collecting all three points tomorrow.

Team News

As previously mentioned, Theo Walcott will take no part in the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on a knee injury. Serge Gnabry was excellent against Spurs so has a good chance of retaining his place on the right wing.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is expected to be on the bench after coming through 45 minutes for the under-21’s on Thursday unscathed, but Aaron Ramsey will continue to miss out with a thigh strain.

Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil are back after recovering from minor knocks but Kieran Gibbs is expected to miss the game with a calf strain meaning Nacho Monreal will continue at left-back.

Thomas Vermaelen is also out with a knee injury and he joins Nicklas Bendtner on the sidelines with the Danish striker was ruled out for 2-3 weeks with an ankle injury.

Aston Villa are sweating on the fitness of defender Ron Vlaar after he missed last week’s FA Cup third-round defeat to Sheffield United with a calf problem. Fellow centre-back Nathan Baker is also a doubt with a hamstring injury but both should recover in time to take part.

Gabriel Agbonlahor and goalkeeper Brad Guzan are expected to be passed fit but midfielder Chris Herd and defender Joe Bennett are out through injury.

Likely Line-Ups

Key Man

Mesut Ozil: The German is back after a short break to recover from a minor knock and re-charge his batteries and the Gunners will be looking to him to be the creative force once again. Getting Ozil on the ball is going to be vital tomorrow.

Predicted Score

Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal: Villa are awful at home and we are in good form, so we should be able to collect all three points and return to the top of the table.

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