Arsenal vs. Aston Villa: an opportunity in the league

Arsenal welcome the newly promoted Aston Villa to the Emirates as they look to make up for the points they dropped to Watford.

Villa are back in the Premier League after being relegated in 2016. They are currently 18th in the table, and they’re near-last in goals scored—a recipe for parking the bus away from home. Arsenal need to get their league campaign back in gear, and although Villa seem like exactly the sort of opponent against which to do that, this might be a tricky match for the Gunners. We’ve seen Arsenal hog the ball and pressure defensive teams for the full ninety minutes without a goal to show for it—that’s what they need to avoid today.

Rob Holding should be able to play for the Gunners today, based on his absence from the injury report, but no one else is newly available. Hector Bellerin, Kieran Tierney, and Dinos Mavropanos are still a week or so away, and Alexadre Lacazette is still out as well.

For Villa, winger Mahmoud Trezeguet is back after serving a red card suspension, Matt Targett is questionable, and Jonathan Kodjia and James Chester are out.

WHAT: Arsenal vs. Aston Villa

WHERE: The Emirates

WHEN: Sunday, September 22nd 8:30 AM PT | 11:30 AM ET | 4:30 PM BST

US TV: Not broadcast. Streaming on NBC Sports Gold ($$$).

For all your international streaming needs, check livesoccer.tv. As always, please do not discuss links to illegal streams here.

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