Aston Villa vs. Arsenal Prediction- 7/21/20
With relegation looming, 18th-placed Aston Villa will hope for a miracle against in-form Arsenal, who have beaten both Liverpool and Manchester City in a matter of four days. Kick-off - at 15:15 PM ET on Tuesday, July 21.
Aston Villa Draw With Everton
Aston Villa failed to earn all three points in an important game during their relegation battle after leaving things level at 1-1 with Everton away at Goodison Park on Thursday. After the hosts hit the bar in the first half, the Villans opened the scoring in the 72nd minute, with defender Ezri Konsa poking in Conor Hourihane’s free-kick, only for the Toffees to equalize with three minutes remaining on the clock. Aston Villa have conceded more EPL markers in the final 15 minutes of action this season than any other team (17). They have won just one of their past 12 Premier League contests (W1 D3 L8) and sit 18th in the standings (W8 D7 L21), three points below safety.
English playmaker Jack Grealish leads the Villans with seven EPL strikes, but has failed to get on the scoresheet for 13 straight fixtures. Goalie Pepe Reina, meanwhile, sits 23rd in the league with 33 saves. He has picked up one clean sheet in 10 contests this season and gives up a goal every 47 minutes on average. Aston Villa have buried the 13th highest number of goals during the current campaign (39), while taking the 9th highest quantity of shots per game (12.1). The team is 14th in ball possession (46.1%) and 12th in passing accuracy (77.1%).
Arsenal Beat Liverpool, Man City
Arsenal had plenty of reasons to celebrate last week after banking two big victories in a matter of four days. The Gunners ended a two-game winless run in the Premier League (D1 L1) by beating newly-crowned champions Liverpool with a count of 2-1 at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday (Alexandre Lacazette and Reiss Nelson on the scoresheet) before beating Manchester City 2-0 in the semi-final of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium three days later (Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with a brace), thus reaching the final of the competition for a record-21st time, eliminating the holder of the cup on the sixth consecutive occasion. Arsenal sit 10th in the league (W13 D14 L9), trailing the top-six by five points.
Gabon striker Aubameyang leads the Gunners with 20 EPL goals, sitting 3rd in the whole league in scoring behind Southampton’s Danny Ings (21) and Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy (23). Goalie Emiliano Martinez, meanwhile, resides 25th in England’s top-flight with 28 saves. He has recorded three clean sheets in seven outings this year and allows a goal every 99 minutes of play. Arsenal are 7th in most goals scored this season (53), 15th in most shots delivered per game (10.7), 6th in ball possession (52.7%) and 5th in passing accuracy (83.4%).
Prediction
Aston Villa needs to beat Arsenal to maintain any chance of Premier League survival heading into Sunday’s very last Matchday, but will undoubtedly be faced with something close to mission impossible. Especially, given the confidence the Gunners currently possess following last week’s victories against Liverpool (2-1) and Manchester City (2-0). The Villans have managed to triumph in just one of their last 12 EPL matches (W1 D3 L8) and have dropped each of their past seven meetings with Arsenal, failing to score a single goal in five of their last six head-to-head encounters.
Best bet:
Arsenal to win (+110)