Arsenal Predicted Lineup vs Aston Villa for January 18

After bouncing back after two successive cup defeats to win the North London Derby, the Gunners have now set Aston Villa in their sights as they keep the heat on Liverpool in the Premier League title race. Here is our Arsenal predicted lineup vs Aston Villa with the match kicking off at 17.30 GMT.

Arsenal Predicted Lineup vs Aston Villa as Gunners Chase Down Liverpool

How Arsenal Have Lined-up Recently

David Raya has continued to start in goal despite not keeping a clean sheet since December 27. That is a burden shared between the usual back four of Jurrien Timber, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba and Myles Lewis-Skelly.

The midfield trio against Tottenham Hotspur was a blend of Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey and Declan Rice, with Mikel Merino making a late cameo from the bench.

Arsenal’s front three was made up of yet another new combination, owing to the continuing injuries of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Ethan Nwaneri. In their stead, Raheem Sterling played on the right, Kai Havertz in the centre and Leandro Trossard on the left. Gabriel Martinelli was given a rest on the bench, before coming on for Sterling in the 61′ minute.

Arsenal Recent Form and Tactics

The Reds will be targeting an unbeaten league run of 11 games; Arsenal’s league form in the last six games is four wins and two draws. But in their last three matches in all competitions, they have one win and two successive losses.

But Aston Villa will still travel to the Emirates with some trepidation, with Arsenal unbeaten at their stronghold all season, scoring 20 goals in 10 matches.

Set-pieces have been an important asset for the club this season. Last time out, Gabriel Magalhaes forced a Dominic Solanke deflected own-goal at the back-post.

While it is usually Arsenal on the attack and converting their set-pieces, they did concede from a Newcastle United free-kick that has really set them back for the second leg of the EFL Cup Semi-Final.

Arteta said: “It’s a balance – if you score and you concede, at the end the balance is zero, so that’s how it is. We have a coach who is responsible for that, and many other things that he does. It’s a small part of his job that he does really well and the players follow. We have some good momentum, now it’s about maintaining it, attacking and the defensive part of it as well.”

Arsenal Injuries and Absentees to Consider

There have been rumours that Ben White and Ethan Nwaneri have already been doing some work on the pitch in training, alongside one of Arsenal’s latest injured stars Riccardo Calafiori.

However, the Arsenal boss was reticent to confirm such rumours.

Mikel Arteta said: “We have a few decisions to make this afternoon with the medical staff to understand whether they are in the best condition for this game or the next one, so we’ll decide that.”