Arsenal vs Aston Villa Live Final Football Score 18 Feb 2023

Arsenal vs Aston Villa Live Final Football Score 18 Feb 2023

A Tyrone Mings missed out for Aston Villa last time out and should he remain unavailable, Calum Chambers should keep his place and feature against his former side. Otherwise there are no fresh injury concerns for Villa, with Diego Carlos still a long-term absentee.Thomas Partey is a doubt for Arsenal after missing the defeat to City with a muscle injury. It is not believed to be a serious problem, but Jorginho looks likely to continue in midfield. Ben White may well come back into the side after Takehiro Tomiyasu’s poor display, while Emile Smith Rowe will train on Friday and could return to the squad. Gabriel Jesus remains out.rsenal must find a way to stop their current slide as they travel to face Aston Villa in the early kick-off on Saturday.

Defeat to Manchester City saw the Gunners fall off the top of the Premier League table, and they are now without a win in their last four matches across all competitions. Mikel Arteta’s side can return to the summit, albeit potentially briefly, with victory against Villa and the Spaniard needs to find swift solutions to the current problems. Villa were also beaten by City in their most recent match, which came after a poor defeat to Leicester. Those performances aside, the team have otherwise been impressive under former Arsenal boss Unai Emery.Having both fallen to 3-1 defeats to Manchester City in their most recent Premier League encounters, Aston Villa and Arsenal kick off this weekend’s action at Villa Park on Saturday lunchtime.

Unai Emery reunites with his former club as his current side sit 11th in the top-flight rankings, while the Gunners have been bumped down to second but could quickly regain top spot here.Many wondered how Man City would immediately react to the plethora of charges that have been levied on them for alleged financial breaches, but Aston Villa ended up becoming the latest victims of an Etihad onslaught, as the champions responded how champions should.Rodri’s header, Ilkay Gundogan’s tap-in and Riyad Mahrez’s penalty put the game to bed before the half-time whistle blew, but Ollie Watkins did manage to bag a consolation for the visitors before Jhon Duran rattled the woodwork with a thunderous volley in the dying embers.

The scoreline could have been more humiliating for Villa had Mahrez not ballooned another gilt-edged chance over the bar, and a second successive loss has further harmed the Lions’ top-half aspirations, as they enter the weekend three points adrift of Chelsea and four behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand. The positives have outweighed the negatives for Villa since Emery took charge, as they have scored in all 11 of their competitive fixtures under the ex-Arsenal and Villarreal boss, but conceding seven goals in their last two games does not bode well before a meeting with the title contenders.

Each of the hosts’ last five home matches in the Premier League has seen both teams find the back of the net, but only one of those contests has ended in victory for Emery, who needs no briefing on the dangers that his former employers will pose in the West Midlands.It was Villa’s turn to lose 3-1 to Man City at the weekend, and it was Arsenal’s turn to suffer an identical beating at the hands of the champions on Wednesday night – one which knocked the Gunners off their perch at the top of the table as defensive mistakes bedevilled them.

Kevin De Bruyne and Bukayo Saka both made the net ripple in the first half, but the City juggernaut came out all guns blazing in the second as Jack Grealish and Erling Braut Haaland made the error-strewn North Londoners pay, extending their winning streak over Arsenal to 11 games in the top flight. What may have started out as a minor blip against Everton is now becoming a slippery slope for the Gunners, who have now failed to win any of their last three Premier League games and are in second place on goal difference as a result, albeit while holding a game in hand on Man City.

The destiny of the title is therefore still in their own hands, and a point would send them back to the summit on Saturday before Man City tackle Nottingham Forest in the afternoon, but more and more questions are now being asked about the credentials of this young team.

Nevertheless, Arsenal still travel to Villa Park as the Premier League’s best-performing away team this term – conceding a joint-low seven goals in the process – and they posted a 1-0 win in this fixture last term before edging a close contest 2-1 at the end of August.Villa may soon be blessed with a full complement of players as Diego Carlos steps up his recovery from Achilles surgery, but he will not be ready for this game, while Jed Steer is also working his way back from a calf concern.

The recently-returned Bertrand Traore could potentially play his way into contention as he shakes off a knee injury, though, while Emery will also be able to call upon Tyrone Mings, who missed the defeat to City with an unspecified problem. Mings’s likely return would see ex-Arsenal man Calum Chambers drop to the bench after an underwhelming showing at the Etihad, while Lucas Digne did not cover himself in glory either and could drop out for Alex Moreno.

As for Arsenal, groans were heard across North London when it emerged that Thomas Partey would miss the clash with Man City due to a muscle injury, although his absence was described as precautionary, and there is still a chance that he could recover for Saturday’s game. Nevertheless, Jorginho was one of the Gunners’ standout performers on Wednesday night and will start again if need be, while Mohamed Elneny and Gabriel Jesus are definitely out as they recover from knee surgeries, but Emile Smith Rowe (thigh) should be back in the squad.

Arteta’s decision to start Takehiro Tomiyasu against Man City was not vindicated, so Ben White ought to return here, while the quick turnaround will also benefit Leandro Trossard’s chances of earning a start over Gabriel Martinelli.In addition to their decreased productivity in attack, there has been a dramatic increase in the number and quality of chances they are giving up to their opponents at the other end of the pitch.

Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba formed a formidable centre-back pairing earlier this season, but opponents will have noted how a direct approach has unsettled them in recent games. Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ivan Toney physically dominated them for Everton and Brentford, and the same was true of Erling Haaland on Wednesday night. Indeed, while Tomiyasu took the blame for City’s opener, it is worth noting the chance arose from the Norwegian beating Saliba in an aerial duel from Ederson’s long kick.

Those details are unlikely to be lost on the meticulous Unai Emery, whose opposition analysis is the stuff of legend, so don’t be surprised if he hands a first start to the towering striker Jhon Duran, signed from Chigaco Fire in January and impressive off the bench in Aston Villa’s 3-1 loss at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.The Colombian would offer another stern test for Saliba and Gabriel but Arsenal’s three-game blip, although a measure of just how good they have been this season, ensures the trip to Villa Park has the look of a daunting challenge regardless of opposition personnel.Former Gunners boss Unai Emery will face us in Premier League action for the first time, having transformed his team’s fortunes since his arrival from Villarreal which has seen them swiftly climb the table to relative safety.