Aston Villa v Arsenal

Gunners to dominate Villa clash

Barclays Premier League:
Aston Villa v Arsenal, Wednesday 21st December 2011 19:45

Author: Thomas Rooney 19/12/2011

Aston Villa host Arsenal this week in the Premier League and it seems fair to say that not all is well at Villa Park. In fact, you could make an argument for things going extremely badly in the next few weeks.

The atmosphere hasn’t been quite right all season of course. Villa fans were not happy with the appointment of former Birmingham manager Alex McLeish and they haven’t been convinced otherwise.

After the defeat to Liverpool at the weekend – during which Villa looked, not for the first time this season, decidedly lacking in ideas going forward – McLeish’s men sit 10th in the table, closer to the relegation zone than they are to Stoke City in 8th position.

Overall, there just hasn’t been much to cheer about for Villa this year with just four victories in the league. Every single one of these was an expected victory too, so there has been no wow factor, no cutting edge and quite frankly, no excitement for Villa this season.

The general vibe around the club wasn’t helped by some Darren Bent controversy at the weekend. The England man was injured for the visit of Liverpool and instead of supporting his team-mates; he was pictured on Twitter shopping during the match.

This didn’t please the Villa fans and you can see why. At the moment they must be wondering whether anyone is as passionate about the club’s ambitions as they are.

As for the visitors to Villa Park this weekend, Arsenal will go into this one hoping to respond to the defeat to Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.

There is no doubt that Arsene Wenger’s men played their part in a fantastic match at the Etihad Stadium, but they will have been frustrated with the 1-0 scoreline and target a return to winning ways straight away.

At the moment, they sit 5th in the table, level on points with 6th placed Liverpool. With this mind, they really need the win in this game to put pressure on the top four as well as maintaining the authority they hold over Liverpool.

For this to happen, one thing they could do with is support for Robin Van Persie. It has been well documented that the Dutchman has been on fire this year, scoring 15 goals in the Premier League.

Beyond this though, there isn’t too much to shout about with Mikel Arteta, Gervinho and Thomas Vermaelen on three goals each.

They do posses plenty of attacking threat though and this is why they will take the points from a below-par Villa side. This should be a very entertaining one too, with a 4-2 Arsenal win a bold, but justified prediction.

Match bet: Arsenal @ 8/11 with Bet365 - (Ł200 free bets)

Correct score prediction: Aston Villa 2:4 Arsenal @ 40/1 with Bet365 - (Ł200 free bets)