Aston Villa vs Arsenal betting tips
- Arsenal to win & BTTS - 9/4 Betfred
- Kai Havertz to score a header - 14/1 Bet365
- Ollie Watkins & Kai Havertz each over one shot on target - 13/2 William Hill
With Arsenal many pundits’ favourite to end Manchester City’s domination of the Premier League, Aston Villa should provide an early season test of the Gunners’ title credentials on Saturday evening (5.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event).
Unai Emery’s side are the only team to beat Arsenal in the league during this calendar year, and they did the double over them last season, despite Arsenal only losing five league games in total.
They followed up a 1-0 win at Villa Park in December with a 2-0 reverse at the Emirates in April as they secured fourth place, their best finish since 1995/96 when they took fourth from Arsenal, despite both teams finishing on 63 points and both with a goal difference of plus 17.
Both sides go into the match with three points on the board, Villa beating West Ham 2-1 at the London Stadium, while Mikel Arteta’s side ran out 2-0 winners against Wolves so something will have to give this weekend.
With a few more games under their belt, it would be hard to see beyond an Arsenal win, after all, they were only just pipped to the title in May and have made some good additions to their squad, but this early on in the campaign Villa will fancy their chances in their first home game of the season.
Even the betting sites have this as a close one, although they are all favouring an Arsenal win, just ahead of the draw.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal prediction: History favours the Gunners
Recent results might favour the home side, with Villa winning five of their last nine meetings between the side, keeping a clean sheet each time, but that is as many wins as Villa had in their previous 46 encounters.
Villa Park is also one of the Gunners’ happiest hunting grounds with 14 wins, which is their joint-best record in the Premier League, equal to the number of wins they have also managed at Selhurst Park.
We could also see history made this weekend, as Arsenal need just two goals to take their tally against Villa to 100 and you wouldn’t rule that out on Saturday.
A victory would also see them equal the record of 18 wins from their first 20 games of the year, currently held by Liverpool (1982) and Manchester City (2019 and 2021).
The Gunners are odds-on with football betting sites to win the game, but you can bump up that price by pairing an away victory with both teams to score.
Villa have scored 21 times in their last eight games at home in all competitions and should stretch Arsenal’s excellent defence, which has kept one clean sheet in the last five visits to Villa Park.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal prediction 1: Arsenal to win & BTTS - 9/4 Betfred
Aston Villa vs Arsenal tips: Havertz to break his Villa duck
Kai Havertz has really impressed since moving across London from Chelsea, where he managed just 19 goals in 91 league appearances.
Following his £65m switch last summer, the German has scored 14 in 38 Premier League games for Arsenal and since February, he’s netted 10 times and assisted with seven more.
But despite four seasons in England, he has not recorded a goal or an assist against Aston Villa in seven games, the most times he has faced anyone without a meaningful contribution.
He already has one goal and one assist this season and you wouldn’t put it past him to continue that form on Saturday. He scored with his head against Wolves and you can find him at 14/1 on some betting apps to repeat that trick at Villa Park.
Having already scored once with his head this year and three times via that method last season, Havertz is clearly one to watch out for when the ball goes into the Villa box.
Another player who would love to be involved in the goals this weekend is Bukayo Saka who is looking for his 100th league win in just 172 games for Arsenal.
He would become only the fourth player to do it before the age of 23, following Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas and Phil Foden. With new betting site Talksport Bet, you can get 12/1 for Saka to score and be assisted by Havertz.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal prediction 2: Havertz to score a header - 14/1 Bet365
Aston Villa vs Arsenal betting: Villa to make it tricky
Villa averaged two goals a match last season and they have kept up that record already, so you wouldn’t bet against them scoring against Arsenal.
Jhon Duran scored the winner last weekend, against the team he was reportedly set to join in the summer. His 79th-minute goal was only his sixth goal in 36 appearances, but they come at a ratio of a goal every 105 minutes, second only to Erling Haaland who scores at a rate of a goal every 85 minutes.
Five of his six goals have come as a substitute and he is likely to have to make do with a place on the bench this weekend, but it means you can get 8/1 on him to score the last goal with William Hill.
Duran came on to replace Ollie Watkins at the London Stadium with Waktins having scored just once in his last nine appearances for his club side. That was in the 4-2 defeat by Olympiakos in the Europa League.
His last league goal came against Arsenal when he scored the second goal in the 2-0 win. He was a handful that day and may get a sniff of another goal on Saturday evening.
Watkins and Havertz could have a big say on proceedings at Villa Park and William Hill go 13/2 about them having over one shot on target each.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal prediction 3: Ollie Watkins & Kai Havertz each over one shot on target - 13/2 William Hill
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