Arsenal

Arsenal maintained their unbeaten start to the new Premier League season with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday evening. The result was a crucial one for the Gunners, given that AVFC had beaten AFC both home and away in the PL in 2023-24.

Here are our talking points from the game

Two BIG Ollie Watkins misses for Aston Villa

This could’ve been a completely different game for Villa had Ollie Watkins converted two glorious chances for them before Arsenal scored. For the first one, he shot wide after some excellent Villa pressing had forced Gabriel Magalhaes into a mistake. For the second, Watkins’ header was brilliantly saved by David Raya from point blank range.

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Here is a look at the xG (expected goals) stats from Aston Villa vs Arsenal on August 24, 2024. The Gunners won this game 2-0, but it could’ve been a very different story had AVFC striker Ollie Watkins converted two very good chances for the home side before Arsenal’s goals.

xG Aston Villa 1.27-0.78 Arsenal shots map (Actual score AVL 0-2 ARS)

0-1 Trossard goal vs Aston Villa xG 0.10
0-2 Thomas Partey goal vs Villa xG 0.06

Watkins 25th minute chance vs Arsenal xG 0.33 (shot wide after great Villa pressing)
Watkins 54th minute chance vs Arsenal xG 0.45 (great save from Raya after Onana’s shot hit woodwork)

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The game of this weekend sees Aston Villa, coached by former Arsenal boss Unai Emery, host the Gunners in the Midlands. Both teams got their campaigns off to winning starts on the opening weekend- Arsenal beat Wolves 2-0 while Villa got the better of Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham.

Here are the pundit predictions for this GW2 clash.

Chris Sutton

On the BBC, Sutton noted that AVFC did the league double over Arsenal in 23/24– the only team to do so last season.

Sutton thinks the fixture “smells of a draw” but reckons the Gunners will win 2-1.

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