Arsenal v Aston Villa preview


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Arsenal v Aston Villa preview

By Oscar Maung Haley

With Arsenal welcoming Aston Villa to the Emirates this week, we take a look at how the Friday night Premier League action could unfold.

Emiliano Martinez returns to the Emirates

A lot was made of Arsenal’s decision to sell Emiliano Martinez to Aston Villa after his stellar spell between the sticks at the back end of the 2019/20 Premier League campaign.

Martinez has seen his stock rise tremendously over the last two years, with the Villa shot stopper now having nailed down the Argentina no.1 jersey full time.

His heroics this summer saw him produce a string of impressive performances for Argentina, helping them to claim Copa America glory.

Last season, he also helped Aston Villa to an impressive 3-0 away win at the Emirates.

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And Friday night will see Martinez return to the Emirates for the first time with fans in attendance following the COVID hit 2021/20 campaign.

The 29-year-old has certainly been outspoken on his time in north London with the Gunners, claiming in an interview with Sky Sports back in March that while he loved everything about Arsenal, they “didn’t deserve me”.

And as a keeper who loves some theatrics (google Emi Martinez penalty shootouts), the return of the Argentine promises to be an interesting sub plot to proceedings.

A chance to extend the unbeaten run

While Arsenal may have drawn their last two games against Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion, they haven’t lost a Premier League clash since the 5-0 drubbing from Manchester City in late August.

Mikel Arteta’s side have hardly been convincing of late (bar the 3-1 derby day win over Spurs) but the signs are promising, especially given the start of the season that Arsenal had.

However, even if you’re not losing, the games against Crystal Palace and Brighton were probably ties Arsenal should have won given their quality on the pitch.

While they are sweating on the fitness of Bukayo Saka following a robust challenge from Palace's James McArthur, they are back to pretty much full strength and should be looking to take the game to a Villa side who sit one position lower in the Premier League.

Aston Villa have made reasonable start to the season and would be in the top half of the table had they not blown a late 2-0 lead to Wolves last weekend.  

A loss to Villa would potentially begin to undo all the good work the Gunners put in on the pitch throughout September.

Four from four for Aubameyang

After a toothless start to the season in attack, the Gunners might finally be finding their footing up-front.

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Following his Monday night goal against Crystal Palace, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has now scored three in three at home for Arsenal and will be looking to take his newly found form into the Villa clash.

If Arsenal are to have any hopes of a push for European football, they will need the Arsenal captain firing on all cylinders again following a tough campaign last year.

PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

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