Reality has now set in for Arsenal, as they travel to Aston Villa on the weekend losers in two of the their last three league fixtures. Mikel Arteta, for the first time since early in the season, now leads his team into a match without sitting in pole position.
The Gunners fell to Manchester City 3-1 in midweek, and the result was enough, via the points differential tie-breaker, to flip places #1 and #2 in the table.
Arsenal at Aston Villa FYIs
Kick: Sat Feb 18, 12:30pm, Aston Villa, Birmingham, UK
Arsenal Starting XI Prediction: go here
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
PL Form: Arsenal LDLWW Aston Villa LLWWD
PL Standing: Arsenal 2nd, 51 pts Aston Villa 11th, 28 pts
Google Result Probability: Arsenal 54% Brentford 21% Draw 25%
Arsenal Team News
Midfield maestro Thomas Partey was a late scratch from the loss to City due to a muscular issue. It is not thought to be serious, so he could be back for this one.
Reiss Nelson made his return to the matchday squad, after recovering from a knock, but did not feature in midweek. You can expect him to maybe get some minutes off the bench here.
Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Jesus and Mohamed Elneny remain out as long term injury absentees.
Prediction: Arsenal 3, Aston Villa 2
Arsenal have just one win (2L1D) in their last four league games, as their positive momentum has totally left them now. Time to get it back, and to do so against an opponent that will have a whole lot to prove in Unai Emery.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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