Arsenal made a solid start to their latest Premier League title challenge last week, beating Wolves 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium with goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka.
Matchday two, however, promises to present a far tougher challenge for Mikel Arteta's team as they face the team that could be considered responsible for their failure to finish as champions in 2023-24.
Aston Villa – under former Arsenal boss Unai Emery – beat the Gunners home and away last term, with April's 2-0 win at the Emirates allowing Manchester City to inch ahead at the top of the table and claim a fourth straight title.
Villa also started with a win last week, with Jhon Duran stepping off the bench to fire them to a 2-1 victory at West Ham.
Ahead of Saturday's headline clash at Villa Park, we run through all the best Opta facts and stats around the game.
What's expected?
The Opta supercomputer makes Arsenal favourites for victory on matchday two, though not overwhelmingly.
Across 10,000 pre-match simulations conducted by the supercomputer, Arsenal were victorious in 51.1% of cases. Villa repeated last season's heroics against the Gunners in 24.7% of scenarios, while 24.2% saw the points shared.
Villa's double over the Gunners last term accounted for 40% of the Premier League defeats suffered by Arteta's team (2/5). They have recorded three straight Premier League wins against them on two previous occasions, in November 1993 and February 2021.
In fact, Villa have won five of their last nine Premier League meetings with Arsenal (four defeats), keeping a clean sheet in every victory.
That is as many wins as they had managed in their previous 46 league matches against the Gunners (14 draws, 27 defeats).
Arsenal, though, have won 14 away Premier League games against the Villans, their joint-most wins at a single away venue in the competition, having also triumphed 14 times at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park.
The Gunners have also scored 98 Premier League goals against Villa in total, only netting more against Everton (124), West Ham (109) and Tottenham (105). Liverpool and Manchester United (five opponents each) are the only teams to have netted 100 or more Premier League goals against more different clubs.
Watkins to cause more Arsenal woe?
Villa may have made a winning start to their campaign, spoiling Julen Lopetegui's West Ham debut with an entertaining win at the London Stadium, but Emery will be looking for a more convincing performance this time out.
Only Liverpool (2.65 versus Ipswich Town) created a higher expected goals (xG) figure than West Ham's 2.46 on matchday one of the Premier League season, albeit 0.78 of that figure came from a Lucas Paqueta penalty – perhaps harshly awarded against Matty Cash.
Of the 11 teams to give up the most expected goals against (xGA) in the division last weekend, Villa were the only one to taste victory – Brentford were the next-most porous victors, allowing Crystal Palace 1.17 xG in a 2-1 win on Sunday.
Villa will need a far better defensive display if they are to stifle Arsenal on Saturday, while they will also be desperate to get more service to Ollie Watkins, who did not attempt a single shot before his 62nd-minute withdrawal versus the Hammers.
Watkins only registered two touches in the West Ham area, one fewer than his replacement Duran, also recording the fewest touches (15), passes attempted (five) and completed (four) of all 22 starters.
Facing an Arsenal side likely to press high and leave space in behind could suit Watkins, though, as he plays his way back into peak condition after helping England reach the Euro 2024 final.
Watkins capped April's 2-0 win at the Emirates with a delightfully dinked finish that put Arsenal on the back foot in the title race, his fifth goal in eight Premier League meetings with the Gunners.
He has been on the winning side in four of those eight games (four losses), and only against Brighton and Hove Albion (six) has he scored more top-flight goals than he has versus Arsenal. The visiting defence must be wary.
Solid spine key for the Gunners?
Villa are the only team to beat Arsenal in the Premier League in 2024, with Arteta's team winning 17 of their 19 games this calendar year (one draw, one loss). In English Football League history, the most wins ever recorded by a team through their first 20 matches in a year is 18, by Liverpool in 1982 and Man City in 2019 and 2021.
The Gunners have been particularly impressive on the road, winning on eight of nine Premier League road trips (one draw) in 2024, scoring 28 goals, conceding three and keeping seven clean sheets in that time.
Arsenal only allowed opponents to create a total of 5.89 xG in those matches, an average of 0.65 per game. The league's next-best ever-present defensive team this year, Man City, have given up 12.39 xGA in 10 road trips.
In the last two seasons, the Gunners have kept 21 away clean sheets (10 in 2022-23, 11 in 2023-24), more than they managed in their previous four campaigns combined (20).
If they can maintain similar levels of solidity in 2024-25 – particularly on their travels – then another title tilt appears a realistic goal.
Arsenal did endure some shaky spells against Wolves last time out, with Jorgen Strand Larsen and Matheus Cunha guilty of passing up huge chances to level when Gary O'Neil's team built up a head of steam, but the Gunners gave up just 0.47 xGA – the fifth-lowest figure of any team on matchday one.
Jurrien Timber came on to steady the ship for the Gunners late on after missing the majority of 2023-24 through injury, while new signing Riccardo Calafiori was an unused substitute.
It remains to be seen whether Arteta will introduce either player to his lineup at Villa Park, where Arsenal must be wary of the direct running of Watkins, Leon Bailey and company.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Aston Villa – Jhon Duran
Duran came on to score the winner against West Ham last week, having been linked with the Irons throughout the transfer window.
Among all players to score at least five Premier League goals, Duran has the second-best minutes-per-goal ratio (six goals, one every 103 minutes), behind only Erling Haaland (one every 85 minutes).
Five of his six strikes, meanwhile, have come as a substitute (83%). That is the second-highest ratio by any player to ever score at least five Premier League goals, behind Matt Derbyshire, who scored nine of his 10 goals from the bench.
Arsenal – Bukayo Saka
Saka registered a goal and an assist in Arsenal's victory over Wolves last week, also creating the joint-most chances (three) of any player on the pitch. He has now been on the winning side in 99 of his 171 Premier League matches with Arsenal.
Another victory would make him the fourth player to reach 100 wins in the competition before turning 23, after Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas and Phil Foden.
The England winger was involved in 11 attacking sequences against Wolves on matchday one, more than any other player on the pitch, ahead of Havertz and Thomas Partey (eight apiece).
Bisseck signs Inter contract extension to 2029
Yann Bisseck has signed a new contract extension with Inter until 2029.
The defender joined the club in July 2023 from AGF for around €7million and has since made 32 appearances in all competitions.
His initial deal would keep him at Inter until 2028, but the 23-year-old has signed a one-year contract extension.
Bisseck has played 11 times for Inter so far this term, including all four of their Champions League matches, making the second-most blocks (four) and the most interceptions (five) among his team-mates in the competition.
"I feel that the club has confidence in me, as does the coach: everyone has contributed to this renewal, and I'm happy with the progress I've made. I think this deal is a positive moment for everyone," he told InterTV.
"There are many things I can still improve. I'm not a perfect player, but I'm still young and there are many aspects that I still need to work on, especially from a tactical and mental point of view.
"Technically and physically, I've reached a good level. I think my mentality will be key to my future growth."
Clarendon College, Manchester, Dinthill Technical and Cornwall College through to quarterfinals of Ben Francis Cup
Seven-time champions Cornwall College and Manchester High survived penalty kicks to advance to the quarter-finals of the ISSA Ben Francis Cup, where they will be joined by Clarendon College and Denbigh High.
Cornwall College came from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw against Happy Grove High before winning 5-4 on penalties at Drax Hall, the same margin that Manchester High beat Dinthill Technical by after they played out a 2-2 draw at Wembley Centre of Excellence.
Clarendon College beat Kemps Hill High 3-1 in their all-Clarendon derby at Foga Road, while Denbigh High were 2-0 winners over Alphansus Davis High at Brooks Park.
The winners will await the four teams that fail to advance past the daCosta Cup quarter-finals for the next round of the Ben Francis Cup, which will be played on November 21st.
Ranieri turned down offers before Roma retirement U-turn
Claudio Ranieri revealed he has turned down offers from other clubs since his retirement before answering Roma's call to be their new manager.
Ranieri announced his retirement at the end of last season after guiding Cagliari to Serie A safety, but after Roma sacked their second manager this season, the 73-year-old agreed on Thursday to take charge until the end of the campaign.
It is Ranieri's third spell as manager of Roma, the club where he began his playing career, and the Rome native will remain in a senior management role once his coaching term ends.
Across his previous two spells, Ranieri managed 96 games in all competitions, registering 53 wins, with a win percentage of 55.21%.
"I had stopped coaching, I have had more requests in recent months than when I won the league title with Leicester City," Ranieri told a press conference.
"I have always said no. I said only in two cases can I return to coaching, either for Roma or Cagliari, if something went wrong.
"I was convinced to have gone my own way, but fate wanted me to return home. I began at Roma as a player and I will finish there as an executive."
Ranieri has no interest in what has gone wrong for Roma this season, in which Daniele De Rossi and Ivan Juric have been dismissed.
"There are a thousand reasons, and honestly I don't care," he said.
"If I go looking at what happened yesterday, I won't achieve anything. I was given carte blanche and I have to do my best with these players. From now on, I am the one in charge.
"Changing two managers by November isn't easy for anyone, one wants to play in a certain manner, one wants to play another way, so there is a bit of an electroshock. That's normal."
Paulo Dybala's absence against Bologna led to speculation that it had more to do with his contract's automatic renewal clause on reaching a certain percentage of appearances than with the Argentine forward's physical fitness.
The Argentinian has made 12 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring twice in Serie A, including the only goal in their last win at the end of October.
Ranieri showed he means business when he revealed the conversation he had with Roma President Dan Friedkin.
"It's the first thing I asked the president," Ranieri said.
"I told him 'I do as I please, I don't want to know if he has clauses or not'.
"You can see that when Dybala is well he makes the difference. I wish he could always play, but he won't."
Ranieri's first game comes after the international break when Roma take on league leaders Napoli.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
