Arsenal vs. Aston Villa: A New Year’s Day Cracker | OneFootball

It’s a match being billed as make or break for Arsenal and their manager, Mikel Arteta. As the Gunners reach the halfway stage of the season, they cling to the top of the Premier League table. A statement win, and they could be flying all the way through to May. Any other result and both Aston Villa and second-placed Manchester City will believe they can haunt the hunted out of the race.

Ghosts of Early December

Arsenal have been winning but also showing the scars from the gut punch Villa hit them with in the form of their last-minute winner in the Midlands earlier this month. The creeping sense that this fixture carries a very particular menace is hard to ignore. With Unai Emery returning to the Emirates on Tuesday night, leading the Premier League’s most in-form side and dragging the past into Arsenal’s present, there’s added tension.

Arsenal arrive off the back of what should have been a comfortable home win over Brighton. However, late, nervy moments once again ensured it ended in relief as much as celebration after a 2 – 1 win.

On the positive side, Arsenal are dominating opponents once again. They’ve forced four own goals in their last three matches and can suffocate any side, including Villa. Arteta wants that feeling to become a habit, not a moment. “We want every opponent that comes here to suffer,” he said, pointing to the dominance Arsenal showed for long spells at the weekend. Against Villa, though, suffering is rarely one-way traffic.

Villa on the Ascendency

Villa are no longer a surprise act. They are relentless; eleven straight wins in all competitions, third in the table and three points behind Arsenal. And playing with the conviction of a side that expects to be here. Arteta was unequivocal in his assessment of their status. “They’re meant to be there,” he said. “Look what they are doing and how consistent they’ve been. What Unai has done with the club, they fully deserve that credit.”

That consistency hurt Arsenal on 6 December. At Villa, Arsenal controlled large parts of the game, only to concede with the final kick. “It was quite cruel as well, the way we lost it,” Arteta admitted. Cruel, yes, but also instructive. Arsenal’s manager says he already has “a few ideas” about what must be better this time, insisting the defeat will be watched back with purpose. “If you use that motivation and that hunger in the right manner, for sure,” he said, “it can become fuel.”

An Arsenal Nemesis

Villa have quietly become one of Arsenal’s most awkward opponents in the Premier League era. The Gunners have lost three of their last five league meetings with them and now face the threat of conceding another league double a fate that has become worryingly familiar in recent seasons. Even the Emirates, once a fortress, has softened. Villa are unbeaten in their last two league visits here, arriving not with hope, but with expectation.

Arsenal’s task is complicated further by defensive uncertainty. Central defender Gabriel could make his long awaited return from injury alongside William Saliba, but right-back Ben White is sidelined with an injury, and first choice in that position, Jurrien Timber, remains doubtful for a return. Riccardo Calafiori, crocked in the Brighton pre-match warm up is also a major doubt. This leaves Arsenal short of specialist defenders. Declan Rice may again be asked to fill in at right-back, a makeshift solution that maintains the team’s structure but weakens their midfield.

And looming over it all is Emery. For Arsenal supporters, his return is complicated. Not hostile, not warm. He just did not really get the club’s culture. At Villa, he has found clarity and control, building a side that punishes mistakes and revels in structure. Arteta knows the danger.