Having both fallen to 3-1 defeats to Manchester City in their most recent Premier League encounters, Aston Villa and Arsenal kick off this weekend’s action at Villa Park on Saturday lunchtime.

Unai Emery reunites with his former club as his current side sit 11th in the top-flight rankings, while the Gunners have been bumped down to second but could quickly regain top spot here.

Aston Villa will feel the progress made in starting the year with four Premier League (PL) matches unbeaten (W3, D1) has been somewhat undone recently, after suffering back-to-back losses to Leicester City (4-2) and league-leaders Manchester City (3-1).

While those high scoring affairs may have been exciting to watch, continuing a trend of keeping just two clean sheets from their last 12 matches will make it difficult for 11th-placed Villa to break into the top-half of the table.

Villa Park has been on the receiving end of these poor defensive performances, with the Villans winning only once at home since the World Cup break (D1, L3). Therefore, manager Unai Emery will be hoping to use his insight of former employers Arsenal as they come to town, something that is much needed considering Villa have lost each of the last three H2Hs

What may have started out as a minor blip against Everton is now becoming a slippery slope for the Gunners, who have now failed to win any of their last three Premier League games and are in second place on goal difference as a result, albeit while holding a game in hand on Man City.

The destiny of the title is therefore still in their own hands, and a point would send them back to the summit on Saturday before Man City tackle Nottingham Forest in the afternoon, but more and more questions are now being asked about the credentials of this young team.

Nevertheless, Arsenal still travel to Villa Park as the Premier League’s best-performing away team this term – conceding a joint-low seven goals in the process – and they posted a 1-0 win in this fixture last term before edging a close contest 2-1 at the end of August.

Aston Villa Premier League form:

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Aston Villa form (all competitions):

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Arsenal Premier League form:

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Arsenal form (all competitions):

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Now sitting in second place by virtue of goal difference, the Gunners do have the ammunition of a game-in-hand, though that may prove futile if their already horrendous week goes from bad to worse with another loss here. At least they can find solace in winning four of their last six visits to Villa Park (L2), helping to make it their second-most winning away PL ground with 13 victories after their 14 wins at West Ham.

Players to watch: Villa’s Leon Bailey has scored 15 of his last 17 club goals at home, while Arsenal will be hoping for some Gabriel Martinelli magic here, having won each of the last 14 matches the Brazilian has found the net.

Hot stat: Aston Villa have seen a league-high 17 goals scored in the opening 15 minutes of their league matches this season.

There may not be a better time all season for Emery to pit his wits against his former club, and Villa’s taste for goals coupled with Arsenal’s downturn in fortunes makes clean sheets here seem like a pipe dream.

However, Villa have still flattered to deceive in front of their own fans, and their leaky defence will no doubt be exposed by an Arsenal side who outplayed Man City in the first half in midweek, so we have faith in the Gunners to pull themselves out of the rut and rise back to the summit.