At A Glance
Aston Villa are looking to win their first away match of the Premier League season when they play Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.
Trips to Bournemouth and Crystal Palace failed to produce any points for Steven Gerrard’s side, who head into the contest with three points from four games.
The Villans will be eager to bounce back after a 1-0 home loss against West Ham United on the weekend.
Arsenal have enjoyed a flawless start to the campaign, picking up maximum points from their four league fixtures thus far.
The Gunners left it late to beat Fulham 2-1 at the Emirates on Saturday, completing their comeback from a goal down when Gabriel netted after 86 minutes.
Mikel Arteta’s team have netted 11 goals during their winning streak, with six different players accounting for that haul.
Standout Stats
Only one of the last 18 Premier League games between these clubs has ended in a draw - Arsenal have won 12 and Villa five.
Only Chelsea and Manchester City have won more Premier League away fixtures at the Emirates than Villa, who have four victories there.
The Gunners' four-match winning start to the season is their fourth in top-flight history and on three of those occasions they have gone on to win the title.
Arsenal are looking to become the 12th club to start a Premier League season with five victories - but only three of the previous 11 teams to have done that have gone on to lift the trophy.
The Gunners’ five-game winning streak - including the final fixture of last season - has equalled their longest such sequence in the league under Mikel Arteta. Since the Arsene Wenger era, only Unai Emery has managed better - a seven-match run four years ago.
The Last Meeting
A first-half goal from Bukayo Saka condemned Aston Villa to defeat against Arsenal in the Premier League at Villa Park in March.
The winger fired home from the edge of the box after 30 minutes to net the only goal of the game.
Villa dominated the second half and came within inches of levelling when Ollie Watkins’ deflected shot struck a post.
Team News
Cameron Archer is a doubt after picking up a hip injury.
Tyrone Mings is back in training after missing the loss against West Ham, while Philippe Coutinho is available after being substituted with cramp against the Hammers.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Thomas Partey missed the Gunners’ victory over Fulham on Saturday and Mikel Arteta expects to be without the pair versus Villa.
The Boss
“We’re giving our full focus and attention to Arsenal. Arsenal were in this situation themselves 12 months ago when they didn’t start the season very well. They’ve started this season very well and they’ve got a top manager and top players. They’ve had an opportunity to build a really exciting team there. We’ll focus on trying to get the right result. They’ve started with a 100 per cent record but for me that’s a fantastic opportunity and a big challenge for me and my players to go and try to ruin that.”
Steven Gerrard
