Unai Emery smells early kick-off revenge
Will Unai Emery come back to bite Arsenal as they chase down a first Premier League title since 2004?
Aston Villa have improved since Emery took over from Steven Gerrard, but there has been some inconsistency that maybe should have been expected.
Arsenal come into this one at an odds on price, which given their numbers and performances this season is completely justifiable, but they do seem to be stuttering a touch.
Martin Odegaard’s displays this season would suggest that the Gunners will create chances at Villa Park, but in Gabriel Jesus’ absence it is no surprise to see the quality of those opportunities dipping.
Process
The Gunners have scored 46 goals from 42.2 expected goals (xG) for this season from 21 league outings.
Mikel Arteta will be pleased with their average of 2.01 xGF per game, and if they can sustain that process for the remainder of the season they will give themselves a great chance of picking up the title.
The regression of the last two games has been in the Gunners’ forward line, the defence has remained consistent and William Saliba alongside Gabriel may well be the most important partnership on the pitch for the rest of the season.
Emery has come in with a reputation for setting sides up well defensively, but they have also improved a lot in the final third, resulting in them pulling into mid table, and Arteta should be in a good position to predict how Emery will look to hurt Arsenal.
Bertrand Traore, Diego Carlos, Jed Steer and Tyrone Mings are unavailable for the Villans, while Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Jesus, Mohamed Elneny and Reiss Nelson are sidelined for Arsenal.
Goals?
Unders was a temptation, but given Villa’s record in front of goal I am steering away from a goals angle, and in the end I have settled on a short odds play in approaching the infamous early kick-off.
Villa have scored in all of their last 11.
Villa have conceded in eight of ten.
Villa have seen both teams score in eight of ten.
Villa have seen over 2.5 goals in seven of ten.
Arsenal have scored in seven of ten.
Arsenal have conceded in six of ten.
Arsenal have seen both teams score in four of ten.
Arsenal have seen over 2.5 goals in four of ten.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
This is a tough loss to take. 2-2 heading into second half additional time, an unfortunate own goal and then the goalkeeper going up for a corner scuppers us, 4-2 Arsenal.