Aston Villa vs Arsenal: Villa Park, Birmingham, England. Barclays Premier League. Aston Villa versus Watford. Pitch side view of a corner flag inside Villa Park.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal: Villa Park, Birmingham, England. Barclays Premier League. Aston Villa versus Watford. Pitch side view of a corner flag inside Villa Park.
Last Word on Football brings you the latest team news and predicted lineups ahead of the Aston Villa vs Arsenal Premier League fixture at Villa Park on August 31. The Gunners will be eager to follow up on their opening-day 3-0 win against Coventry. Aston Villa endured a horrible opening weekend, losing 4-0 to Brighton. Can Villa cause a shock, or will the Gunners win as expected?
Premier League: Team News and Predicted Lineups for Aston Villa vs Arsenal
Date: Monday, August 31, 2026.
Venue: Villa Park.
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT.
Last meeting: Arsenal 4-1 Aston Villa (December 30, 2025).
Referee: Tom Bramall.
Current odds: Arsenal 8/15, Aston Villa 6/1, Draw 7/2.
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Aston Villa Team News
Unai Emery also faced the press in the build-up to Aston Villa vs Arsenal, where the Villa boss revealed what new signing Leon Goretzka will bring to the squad:
“Experience. High-level experience. He is a winner. He is a very competitive player, he’s still young at 31-years-old and he’s a good player to add into our squad. He is a versatile player, he can play in different positions and he arrives fit and he is training well,” said the Villa boss.
Looking ahead to August 31, Emery said: “Monday is the next challenge and the Premier League is not waiting. There are 38 matches to play, points to play and we have lost the first match. On Monday hopefully Villa Park is being like we always felt there. Supporting, playing with us and we will need them again.”
Villa will host Arsenal, but will be without Leon Bailey, Amadou Onana, Johan Manzambi, and Brian Madjo. Joao Gomes is suspended after being sent off in the Brighton game. Tammy Abraham is also a doubt, with the departure of Ollie Watkins leaving Villa light in attack.
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Arsenal Team News
During the pre-match press conference for Aston Villa vs Arsenal, Arteta discussed the availability of Ezri Konsa and said: “He’s available. He’s trained really well and he will be available for selection.”
Arteta was also asked about Bruno Guimaraes’ groin problem: “We’ve just managed the last few days with him. He’s out on the pitch, he’s been doing training sessions but we need to manage his load to get to Monday in the best possible condition to be able to get selected.”
When asked if Guimaraes could be available against Villa, the Gunners boss said: “Yes, potentially available.”
The Arsenal boss was also asked about the latest on Jurrien Timber and William Saliba:
“Jurrien is progressing really well, let’s see how he ends up this week. It’s the third week in a row that he’s been outside and we have increased his load. So he’s on the right trajectory if everything goes well. I think next week we’re going to step it up again. Wilo, obviously not much, he’s in conservative load management right now, so that’s going to take a while,” said Arteta.
Arsenal Predicted Lineup
Raya, White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Rice, Saka, Odegaard, Tzolis, Havertz.
Aston Villa Predicted Lineup
Suzuki, Cash, Lindelof, Torres, Ruggeri, Bogarde, Kamara, Buendia, Barkley, McGinn, Jackson.
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