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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 33
Arsenal v Aston Villa
Emirates Stadium
London, England
Sunday, 14 April 2024
Kick-off is at 14h30
Arsenal will be looking to deny Aston Villa a rare
Premier League double when they lock horns at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, April 14 in the late kick-off.
The Villans halted a run of four successive defeats to the Gunners with a 1-0 victory at Villa Park in the reverse fixture on December 9 and they have a chance to win both games in a season for only the third time in the Premier League era.
Mikel Arteta's side are flying high though, after they beat Brighton 3-0 at the Amex on April 6 to reclaim top spot from Liverpool, who were held to a 2-2 draw by Manchester United at Old Trafford one day later.
Two two title rivals are separated by goal difference at the top of the table, with Manchester City just one point behind them in third place after battling back from an early goal down to triumph 4-2 against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on April 6.
Villa dropped out of the UEFA Champions League places for the first time since February 10 after they could only manage a 3-3 draw with Brentford at Villa Park on April 6 before seeing Tottenham climb back up to fourth courtesy of a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest the following day.
Neither of them appear to be under threat from the Red Devils, who remain 11 points adrift of the two top-four contenders in sixth position.
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In team news, Arteta has an almost fully-fit squad at his disposal, with just Jurrien Timber (knee) unavailable for selection. Opposite number Unai Emery has a few more injuries to contend with as Boubacar Kamara, Emiliano Buendia, Tyrone Mings (all knee), Jacob Ramsey (ankle) and Matty Cash (thigh) are all ruled out.
Arteta believes his players are controlling games better away from home which has allowed them to match a club record of five consecutive wins on the road.
"In the end, it's about performances," the Spaniard said. "You have to earn the right to win the games in this league and the teams, they ask you a lot of questions and there are a lot of things you have to control in a Premier League match to win away from home.
"The team seems to be controlling those moments much better and being comfortable in different stages of games, when the teams are demanding all this stuff. That's the biggest step as a team."
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Emery felt his players dominated the game for 80 minutes against the Bees, but they switched off for 10 minutes early in the second half which led to them conceding three goals.
"I have in mind, two sides, one negative and another positive," the Spaniard told VillaTV. "The positive is more than the negative because we're on matchday 32 with 60 points.
"And we played here in the first 45 minutes, in the second half the first 15 minutes, and after their third goal we reacted very well and played fantastic trying to win the match and trying to come back from a bad result.
"But in 10 minutes we lost a lot of things, it was really incredible, incredible, because we were really being consistent."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Arsenal wins - 4
Aston Villa wins - 1
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 33 fixtures:
Saturday, April 13
12h30: Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
15h00: Brentford v Sheffield United
15h00: Burnley v Brighton & Hove Albion
15h00: Manchester City v Luton Town
15h00: Nottingham Forest v Wolverhampton Wanderers
17h30: Bournemouth v Manchester United
Sunday, April 14
14h00: Liverpool v Crystal Palace
14h00: West Ham United v Fulham
16h30: Arsenal v Aston Villa
Monday, April 15
20h00: Chelsea v Everton
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