Aston Villa vs Arsenal Prediction, Predicted Lineups & Team News
Aston Villa host Arsenal at Villa Park on Monday night in a fixture that looked very different three months ago. Our Aston Villa vs Arsenal prediction favors Mikel Arteta's side, who opened with a 3-0 win over Coventry City and have now won five straight competitive matches going back to the Community Shield.
Villa are the ones who need explaining. They finished fourth, won the Europa League in May and reached the UEFA Super Cup this month, then sold Morgan Rogers, Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne, lost 4-0 at Brighton with Emiliano Buendia playing center forward, and let Ollie Watkins go to Al-Hilal. Nicolas Jackson arrived from Chelsea on Friday to replace him and is projected to start. Konsa's move was to Arsenal, and Mikel Arteta says he is ready to face his old club.
This preview covers predicted lineups, injury news, head-to-head history, the tactical matchup and a score prediction for Monday's Premier League game in Birmingham.
When & Where to Watch (USA)
Monday, Aug. 31 at 8:00 PM BST / 3:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM PT
Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham
- English TV: USA Network
- Spanish TV: Universo
- Streaming: Fubo, Sling Blue, Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV Stream
- Referee: Jarred Gillett
Aston Villa vs Arsenal Lineups & Injury News
Aston Villa vs Arsenal Predicted Lineups
Predicted lineups: Villa have two debutants in the projected XI, with Nicolas Jackson at center forward two days after signing and Leon Goretzka alongside Boubacar Kamara in the pivot for the suspended Joao Gomes. Buendia shifts out to the left and George Hemmings drops out. Arsenal are projected to name the same XI that beat Coventry, with Myles Lewis-Skelly alongside Declan Rice while Bruno Guimaraes works back from a groin problem.
Aston VillaAVL
ArsenalARSAston VillaPredictedArsenalPredictedAston Villa predicted starting XI (4-2-3-1):Zion Suzuki; Matty Cash, Victor Lindelof, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen; Boubacar Kamara, Leon Goretzka; John McGinn, Ross Barkley, Emiliano Buendia; Nicolas Jackson
Arsenal predicted starting XI (4-2-3-1):David Raya; Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera, Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori; Declan Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly; Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Christos Tzolis; Kai Havertz
Check the Premier League injury table and the player news feed before kickoff because there are still some questions.
Aston Villa Team News & Injuries
The striker question has been answered, and far better than it looked 24 hours ago. Watkins has gone to Al-Hilal, with Emery confirming it in the most human quote of the week: "he told us after the match that he was sorry and he told us that he made a mistake and that he was wrong. We accepted it. I told him bye with a huge hug and a small tear." Nicolas Jackson completed a move from Chelsea on Friday and is projected straight into the team, which is a considerably more serious answer than Buendia at No. 9. Tammy Abraham is expected to remain out.
Villa lost their goalkeeper in the same week. Emiliano Martinez is unavailable as he completes a move to Chelsea, which hands Suzuki the shirt.
Joao Gomes is suspended for the second of his three games after being sent off on his debut, Amadou Onana is out until around April after rupturing an ACL at the World Cup, Johan Manzambi is targeting mid-September with a knee problem, and Brian Madjo is not expected back. Leon Bailey is unlikely to feature and is training away from the first team.
Leon Goretzka is the other new face, signed on a free on Thursday after leaving Bayern Munich, and Emery expects to use him: "he arrived fit, and he is training well. Hopefully, on Monday, he can be on the field."
Villa will therefore start two players against the champions who were not at the club on Wednesday, with Jackson leading the line and Goretzka in the pivot. Buendia moves to the left and Hemmings drops out.
Arsenal Team News & Injuries
William Saliba is out with the back injury he aggravated in the World Cup semi-final. He declined surgery, Arteta has said the absence runs past the September international break, and the current reading is months rather than weeks. Jurrien Timber is also out, still several weeks from full training with a groin problem that has followed him since last season.
Bruno Guimaraes is the live one and the news is good. Arteta on Thursday: "yes, potentially available. We just managed the last few days with him. He's out on the pitch. He's been doing training sessions. But we need to manage his load to get to Monday in the best possible condition to be able to get selected." Jurrien Timber is also moving: "it's the third week in a row that he's been outside and we have increased his load."
Konsa is fit and Arteta made a point of saying so: "he's trained really well and he will be available for selection." He arrived from Villa on Aug. 21, was not in the squad for the opener, and Mosquera kept the shirt next to Gabriel with five clearances, so a first Arsenal start against his old club is available rather than guaranteed.
Two names are being managed out of the picture entirely. Gabriel Jesus is training away from the group, with Arteta putting it down to "the numbers that we have in the squad at the moment," and Gabriel Martinelli's future is unresolved. Viktor Gyokeres was an unused substitute in the opener for reasons Arteta split between the physical and the tactical.
Arteta will assess Guimaraes before the squad travels. If he is fit he replaces Lewis-Skelly next to Rice, and if he isn't, this is the same XI that won 3-0 at the Emirates.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal Head-to-Head Record
These clubs have met 207 times, with Arsenal winning 89 to Villa's 72 and 46 drawn. Arsenal have a record 15 Premier League wins at Villa Park, more than at any other away ground in the league, but the recent Villa Park record cuts the other way: Villa have won two of the last three league meetings there, 1-0 in December 2023 and 2-1 in December 2025 through a Buendia goal in the 95th minute that cut Arsenal's title lead to three points.
Arsenal answered that one emphatically, winning 4-1 at the Emirates 24 days later to end an 11-match Villa winning run. Hemmings made his Premier League debut in that game.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal Tactical Analysis
Villa's problem is not the shape, it is who is left to fill it. They sold Rogers, Konsa, Tielemans and Digne and reinvested in Manzambi, Gomes and Suzuki. Manzambi is injured and Gomes is suspended, so two of the three arrivals who were supposed to hold the middle of this team are unavailable for the second game of the season, and Goretzka has been at the club four days.
That leaves a 4-2-3-1 in front of a back four that has already shipped four. Villa managed 0.31 expected goals at Brighton from six shots, and Emery's own read was that they were fine for 15 minutes and then lost the match and a player inside 20 more. The usual route back into a game like this is a striker running the channels, and Jackson arriving means Villa at least have one again. What they do not have is any time to work on it.
Arsenal, by contrast, look exactly like a team defending a title. They put three past Manchester City in Cardiff and three past Coventry with 65 percent of the ball, 19 shots and 1.70 expected goals against 0.33. Christos Tzolis was the most interesting part of it, taking four shots and creating three chances on debut after arriving from Club Brugge, and Arteta made a point of praising the energy he gets on the ball. With Saliba out, Mosquera has settled next to Gabriel and Arsenal have kept clean sheets in both competitive games.
The one thing working for Villa is the occasion. Monday night at Villa Park with a European trophy in the cabinet and a crowd that knows exactly how the summer went is a genuinely hostile place to defend a lead, and Jarred Gillett is the referee who took charge of the last Arsenal defeat here.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal Odds
Arsenal are around -195 on the road and Villa are out past +500, which is a remarkable price for a side that finished fourth and won a European trophy three months ago. The market has not rewarded Villa for signing a striker either. Arsenal have shortened slightly at FanDuel and Kalshi since Jackson's move went through, which tells you what the books make of a debutant No. 9 against this defense.
| Sportsbook | Aston Villa | Draw | Arsenal |
|---|---|---|---|
| BetMGM | +425 | +280 | -200 |
| DraftKings | +500 | +330 | -185 |
| FanDuel | +500 | +320 | -210 |
| bet365 | +500 | +310 | -188 |
| Kalshi | +527 | +312 | -200 |
Odds from OddsJam. For more markets and the rest of the matchweek, see RotoWire's soccer betting page and the best sportsbook promos.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal Key Matchups
Nicolas Jackson vs Gabriel and Cristhian Mosquera
Jackson signed on Friday and is projected to lead the line on Monday, which is about as cold a start as a striker gets. He spent the end of his Chelsea spell training away from the first team with his role in question, so this is a player short of rhythm walking into a debut against a pair who have not conceded a goal yet this season. The case for him is simply that he is a genuine center forward, and Villa's problem at Brighton was that Buendia had to occupy two center backs on his own and put none of his three shots on target. Jackson at least pins Gabriel and Mosquera and gives Villa something to play toward, and Buendia moving to the left is a straightforward upgrade on both of them.
Bukayo Saka vs Ian Maatsen
Saka scored in the opener and took five corners, and he is coming up against a left back who had a difficult afternoon at Brighton and got no joy going forward. Villa's shape asks Maatsen to push on and support a front three containing two teenagers, which is exactly the invitation Saka wants. Arsenal's first goal against Coventry came from a Ben White delivery on the same side Saka occupies, so the overload is deliberate. If Maatsen has to sit, Villa lose their most reliable route out of their own half.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal Set-Piece Takers
Set-piece responsibility for both clubs comes from RotoWire's Premier League set-piece takers guide, which covers all 20 teams for 2026-27.
Aston Villa
- Corners & free kicks: Emiliano Buendia, John McGinn, Matty Cash, Alysson
- Penalties: Emiliano Buendia, Ollie Watkins, John McGinn
Arsenal
- Corners & free kicks: Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Bruno Guimaraes, Christos Tzolis, Martin Odegaard
- Penalties: Viktor Gyokeres, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Bruno Guimaraes
Watkins has left, so Buendia is now Villa's outright first-choice penalty taker with McGinn behind him, and the dead-ball work runs through him regardless. Arsenal's list is thinner than it reads, with Guimaraes only potentially available and Gyokeres currently a substitute, so Rice takes the corners and Saka is the penalty taker on the pitch.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal Prediction
Villa Park on a Monday night is the one thing Villa still have, and Arsenal have lost here before with better Villa teams than this one. Signing Jackson matters and it makes them harder to play against than they looked on Thursday. But he arrived two days ago, the midfielder next to Kamara arrived three days ago, the goalkeeper has one competitive appearance and Gomes is still serving his ban. Arsenal have conceded nothing in two competitive games, have Saka and Tzolis running at full backs who cannot both push on, and do not need many chances against a team still being assembled on the morning of the match.
Score Prediction: Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal
Upcoming Fixtures
Arsenal host Chelsea next weekend, while Villa travel to Hull City.
For the rest of the matchweek, see RotoWire's Premier League predicted and confirmed lineups, the injury table, team stats and the EPL draft kit.
