Aston Villa v Arsenal: Prediction, team news, lineups and odds

Arsenal will look to continue their perfect start to the 2026/27 season when they travel to Villa Park to face Aston Villa.

The Gunners beat Manchester City 3-0 in the Community Shield before kicking off the Premier League campaign with a 3-0 victory over Coventry City.

It’s a completely different story at Aston Villa, who have sold a number of key players in the summer and lost 4-0 away at Brighton in their Premier League opener.

Aston Villa v Arsenal kick-off time

Aston Villa v Arsenal kicks off at 8pm BST on Monday, August 31 at Villa Park.

Aston Villa v Arsenal how to watch

The game will be shown live in the UK via Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage starting from 6.30pm.

TalkSPORT will provide full match commentary.

Aston Villa team news

Marco Bizot started between the sticks against Brighton, but £30million summer signing Zion Suzuki is expected to make his Villa debut against Arsenal.

Leon Gortezka and Nicolas Jackson are also set to make their Villa debuts, with the former replacing Joao Gomes in the middle of the park.

Gomes is serving a three-match suspension after being shown a straight red card in the defeat at Brighton.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka is another potential debutant after arriving from West Ham on an initial loan deal, although Matty Cash could continue at right-back.

Brian Madjo and Johan Manzambi are still sidelined, while Amadou Onana is a long-term absentee after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament at the World Cup.

Ollie Watkins and Tammy Abraham won’t be involved as they are both poised to leave Villa Park, with the former moving to Al-Hilal and the latter joining Ipswich Town on a season-long loan deal.

Leon Bailey is also expected to depart before deadline day as Sevilla, Hull City and Al Diriyah have all been credited with an interest in the winger.

Arsenal team news

After being unveiled on the Emirates pitch before the game against Coventry City, Ezri Konsa is now available for selection and could make his Arsenal debut against his former club.

But he may have to initially settle for a place on the bench as the back four of Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera, Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori have started the season with back-to-back clean sheets.

Jurrien Timber is close to a return but this game will come too soon for him, while William Saliba remains sidelined with a back injury.

Bruno Guimaraes missed the 3-0 win over Coventry City with a minor groin injury, but is back in training and could feature at Villa Park.

If the Brazil international isn’t ready to start, Myles Lewis-Skelly will continue to partner Declan Rice in the middle of the park.

Gabriel Martinelli was left out of the matchday squad against Coventry City and is now closing in on a £56million move to Al Hilal, which will see him link up with Ollie Watkins.

Aston Villa v Arsenal odds

Arsenal are 8/15 to make it six points out of six from their first two Premier League games. Villa are 6/1 to pick up their first win of the season, and the draw is 7/2.

The Gunners are 5/6 favourites to win the Premier League for the second season running, while Villa are 4/1 to secure a top-five finish.

Aston Villa v Arsenal prediction

Aston Villa have won two of the last three home matches against Arsenal, with Emiliano Buendia’s injury-time goal in this fixture last season stealing all three points.

But five of the Villa players who started that game in December 2025 have since left the club, and Onana is also unavailable due to injury.

They will be in a better position once all the new signings bed in, but that will take a bit of time and Arsenal should be too strong for them.

The Gunners have won their first away game of the campaign in the last four seasons, keeping a clean sheet in all of those. That leads us to back an Arsenal win to nil at 31/20.

A repeat of the 2-0 scoreline from the 2024/25 season is available at 7/1.

Arsenal have also been strong starters, leading 2-0 at half-time against both Manchester City and Coventry City. That leads us to back Arsenal-Arsenal in the Half-Time Full-Time market at 13/10.

With two goals at the start of this season, Kai Havertz now has a direct goal contribution across each of his last five competitive appearances for Arsenal.

The striker is 1/1 to keep that run going and register a goal or an assist at Villa Park.

Christos Tzolis has made a brilliant start to his Arsenal career, registering two assists against Manchester City before playing a key role in the win over Coventry City.

The Greece international won the ball back for Arsenal’s opening goal, and his cross was palmed into Bukayo Saka for the second. He’s 14/5 to register an assist against Villa.