Arsenal's Bukayo Saka is recovering from a calf injury while Matty Cash has overcome a dead leg for Aston Villa; watch Arsenal vs Aston Villa live on Friday Night Football from 7pm - kick-off 8pm
Friday 22 October 2021 17:28, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Arsenal vs Aston Villa in the Premier League on Friday Night Football; kick-off 8pm.
It remains to be seen if Arsenal forward Alexandre Lacazette will be rewarded for his late goal against Crystal Palace with a recall for the Aston Villa clash.
Bukayo Saka's fitness will be assessed ahead. The England winger was forced off at half-time in Monday's 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace after being kicked on his calf, although he is expected to be in contention to play some part.
Granit Xhaka (knee) is the only certain absentee for Mikel Arteta's side, with Alexandre Lacazette pushing for a first league start of the season having scored off the bench last time out.
"We have two or three players that finished the game with some issues," Arteta said on Thursday.
"He (Saka) hasn't trained yet so we have to assess him and see how he is. It is down to the doctors and see how he recovers, see how he is today and tomorrow."
Aston Villa will have Matty Cash available after he was forced off against Wolves. The defender came off late in the derby defeat with a dead leg but is fit for the trip to the Emirates.
Leon Bailey and Bertrand Traore are available after their hamstring injuries while Keinan Davis has also returned to training. Trezeguet (knee) remains a long-term absentee.
Arsenal vs Aston Villa is live on Sky Sports Premier League from 7pm; kick-off 8pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.
Aston Villa have won the last three Premier League meetings with Arsenal, all accompanied by a clean sheet. Dean Smith seems to have the measure of Mikel Arteta. Yet, Arsenal are dominating the match result markets with 10/11 available for a home win. That is easily swerved with Arteta's team still showing inconsistency at key points in matches that makes them vulnerable to a well-drilled, clinical opposition which Aston Villa can be on their day. I'll play the away win.
I'm expecting Villa to be asking questions of Arsenal at regular intervals, so for the second week running I'm looking to grab some winning value in their ability to win corners. Since switching to a back three and encouraging their wing-backs in Matt Targett and Matty Cash to play more aggressively, Villa's corner count is seeing a sharp increase. In their last five fixtures against tough opponents like Tottenham, Manchester United, Everton, Chelsea and Wolves they have averaged 6.8 corners per 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, Arsenal, this season, are playing with less width with their 'width per sequence' statistics being the second narrowest in the Premier League. This is restricting their ability to win corners, averaging just five corners per 90 minutes this season. And they have conceded an average of 6.7 corners per match.
These numbers certainly put forward the argument that Villa should be favourites to win the corner race but they are not. I'm happy to invest in the evens for Dean Smith's side to win the corners race with a +1.0 corner start, meaning they need to have as many corners as Arsenal or more, to make the bet a winner.
SCORE PREDICTION: 1-2
BETTING ANGLE: Aston Villa +1.0 on the corner handicap (Evens with Sky Bet)
Pete Smith is joined by Jamie Carragher, Michael Bridge and Oliver Yew to preview another bumper weekend of Premier League action.
PART 1 | Jamie Carragher's big Manchester United vs Liverpool preview
PART 2 | Michael Bridge on West Ham vs Spurs, and why Dele Alli my need a fresh start
PART 3 | Arsenal vs Aston Villa on Friday Night Football and Brighton vs Man City on Saturday Night Football: City look devastating again, Cole Palmer focus