Arsenal travel to Villa Park for Saturday’s early Premier League kick-off against Aston Villa.
The Gunners are currently top of the table with a five-point lead over Manchester City.
They are scheduled to face an in-form Villa outfit, who have won four straight league games.
The Midlands outfit are six points adrift of the top, and Arsenal have a tricky challenge on their hands.
The Gunners won 2-0 at Villa Park last season, which is their only victory in the previous four meetings.
Ahead of the game, manager Mikel Arteta could make four changes to the starting XI.
William Saliba & Jurrien Timber start in defence
In his pre-match presser for the Brentford game, Arteta said that it is a ‘matter of days‘ before Saliba returns from his latest injury. We anticipate the Frenchman to be reinstated in the heart of the defence alongside Piero Hincapie, replacing the injured Cristhian Mosquera.
Ben White had his best game of the campaign at right-back against the Bees. The Englishman provided the assist for Mikel Merino’s opening goal. He was solid defensively too, with 10 duels and four tackles won alongside four recoveries. Despite this, Jurrien Timber could get the nod over him.
Timber was given a breather amid his heavy workload, but he was called upon to replace Mosquera in central defence before the interval. The Dutchman has a good recovery pace and tends to fare better in one-on-one duels than White. Hence, he is likely to start in the right-back position.
Eberechi Eze & Bukayo Saka return in attack
Noni Madueke deputised for Bukayo Saka on the right wing against the Bees. He had a lively start and played a big part in White’s assist for the opening goal with a brilliant piece of skill. However, his performance dipped as the first half progressed, and he delivered several poor corners.
It is a no-brainer decision for Saka to return to the XI. The Gunners graduate put the game beyond Brentford’s sight last night with a stoppage-time goal (2-0). Elsewhere, Gabriel Martinelli could make way for Eberechi Eze on the left wing after another underwhelming performance.
Martinelli did not win a single duel against Chelsea last month (0/5), and he was equally poor against Brentford, winning just three out of nine duels contested. The Brazilian tried to operate as a playmaker on occasions and should have at least hit the target with one fantastic chance created by White.
Leandro Trossard could be fit in time to face the Villans, but Eze should be preferred due to his fantastic record against the Midlands outfit. The 27-year-old has eight goal contributions in 14 meetings. He managed three goal involvements last term, including one in the FA Cup semi-final (3-0 win).
We don’t anticipate any more changes. Declan Rice suffered an injury scare against the Bees last night, but he told Sky Sports reporter Gary Cotterill after the game he is ‘fine’ and available to face Villa.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com