Arsenal travel to Villa Park on Monday night to clash with an Aston Villa side that is fighting to stay clear of relegation danger. Gunners fans will well remember that Villa defeated the team at the Emirates on the first day of the season, signaling a fresh bout of doom and gloom in North London. How times have changed though as a quality signing (you know who) and a fantastic first half of the season have put Arsenal on a high, and within touching distance of the Premier League trophy.
Form suggests that Arsenal should have a relatively easy evening on Monday as the Gunners have won their last 4 games (three in the Premier League and 1 against Spurs in the cup). Villa have picked up just one win in the last six, but their league form is not quite as bad as it looks on paper. Despite slipping to a home defeat in the FA Cup against Sheffield United the team has actually picked up a win and draw in their last two league games.
However, Villa´s problems run deep as the team is simply terrible at home, as shown by that loss to League One chasers Sheffield United. Villa has not won at home in 5 attempts and has only won at Villa Park three times all season in all competitions. It is the kind of run that makes Arsenal clear favorites, especially as the Villa players like to let teams have the ball. Expect Arsenal´s midfield to get plenty of the football and acres of pitch to play in, while Villa try to hit them on the counter attack. Of course, with Christian Benteke the home team always has a chance, but the truth is the Belgian has not scored in any competition since late September and is not the player he was last season.
Arsenal have their own attacking problems with the news that Theo Walcott will sit out the rest of the season after he picked up an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Walcott had come into the side and was scoring goals, but more importantly he took the weight off Oliver Giroud´s shoulders. Giroud is likely to have recovered from an illness to take on Villa, but once again the pressure is on the Frenchman to score the goals that fire Arsenal to the league title. Arsene Wenger has pointed to the fit again Lukas Podolski as someone who gives Arsenal more attacking options, and the German will surely be of great importance during the next few months.
Arsenal should have far too much for a Villa side also suffering injuries and with the Gunners looking to go back to the summit of the Premier League, a win will be needed. With the ball at their feet too often at Villa Park, Wenger´s men will likely pick up a comfortable away victory.