ASTON VILLA V ARSENAL
Arsenal's
injury list has lessened slightly after the nadir of last week's north
london derby with Tottenham, a match that Arsène Wenger's side would
certainly have found a much tougher assignment were it not for Emmanuel
Adebayor's moment of madness. Althout the visitors are still without
Theo Walcott and Abou Diaby among others, they should still have enough
about them to provide a severe test for Paul Lambert's floundering
side, who are themselves coming off the back of the morale-shredding
5-0 drubbing at Manchester City last week.
Rich Flower
Venue Villa Park, Saturday 5.30pm
Tickets £25-45 (0800 612 0970)
Last season Aston Villa 1 Arsenal 2
Referee Lee Mason
This season's matches 7
Y34,
R0, 3.43 cards per game
Odds Aston Villa 17-4 Arsenal 8-11 Draw 25-8
Aston Villa v Arsenal: Probable starters in bold, contenders in light. Illustration: Graphic
Aston Villa
Subs from Given, Marshall, El Ahmadi, Albrighton, Delph, Holman, Bent, Lichaj, Burke, Baker, Bowery, Williams, Carruthers
Doubtful None
Injured
Bennett (knee, 8 Dec), Herd (knee, 8 Dec), N'Zogbia (knee, 8 Dec),
Gardner (knee, May), Dunne (groin, unknown), Petrov (leukaemia, unknown)
Suspended None
Form guide LLWDLL
Disciplinary record Y25 R2
Leading scorers Bent, Benteke, Weimann 2
Arsenal
Subs from
Mannone, Martínez, Gnabry, Chamberlain, Ramsey, Squillaci, Djourou,
Coquelin, Arshavin, Jenkinson, Chamakh, Miquel, Gibbs, Yennaris
Doubtful None
Injured
Walcott (shoulder, 28 Nov), Diaby (thigh, 1 Dec), André Santos
(stomach, 8 Dec), Rosicky (calf, 22 Dec), Fabianski (ankle, Jan)
Suspended None
Form guide WDLWLW
Disciplinary record Y12 R1
Leading scorers Cazorla, Giroud, Podolski 4