Match Preview

It’s undoubtedly been Arteta’s and Arsenal’s best week of the season, which saw them defeat already crowned Champions Liverpool at the Emirates 2-1, then a couple of days later reach the FA Cup final after getting the better of holders Manchester City in a resolute display, to give them a fighting chance of European Football next season. Aston Villa will be also be needing a huge performance in this fixture in order to avoid relegation, after they dropped points late on against Everton.

Arsenal are in fine form and continued this on Saturday evening against Manchester City as they put in somewhat of a masterclass in defending while being clinical going forward, to see them win 2-0 and reach the FA Cup final against Chelsea. Arteta’s side have won 3 games out of their last 5 including wins against Wolves, Liverpool and Manchester City with their only blip coming in the North London Derby. On the other hand, Villa have lost 3 out of their last 5 with defeats coming at the hands of Wolves, Liverpool and Manchester United. Their only victory since the restart was against Crystal Palace at home. Let’s have a look at the teams news for both sides:

The Gunners have been hit with a fresh injury concern as Skhodran Mustafi looked to have hurt his hamstring late on at the weekend, resulting in the German being ruled out of this one. Fellow German Mesut Özil has returned to full training and is now available for selection. There was more positives for Bernd Leno as his return to action doesn’t seem far away as he is now doing light running and ball work. Young striker, Eddie Nketiah, is now back from his three game suspension. Arsenal’s long term absentees remain the same in Gabriel Martinelli, Callum Chambers and Pablo Mari. Dean Smith nearly has a fully fit squad for Tuesday’s match as centre-back Kortney Hause is likely to return, however experienced left-back Neil Taylor is a major doubt with a hamstring injury.

Predicted Lineup

Formation – 3-4-3

GK – Emilio Martinez

RWB – Hector Bellerin

CB – Rob Holding

CB – David Luiz

CB- Kieran Tierney

LWB – Bukayo Saka

CM – Granit Xhaka

CM – Dani Ceballos

RW – Nicolas Pepe

ST – Alexandre Lacazette

LW – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

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James Humphreys