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2024/25 English Premier League
Matchday 2
Aston Villa v Arsenal
Villa Park
Birmingham, England
Saturday, 24 August 2024
Kick-off is at 18h30
The biggest fixture of the new
Premier League season sees Aston Villa lock horns with title hopefuls Arsenal at Villa Park in the late kick-off on Saturday, August 24.
The Villans have made real strides under Unai Emery and qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1982-83 after pipping Tottenham to fourth place last season.
Emery is a master on the European stage, having won the Europa League title four times (three with Sevilla and once with Villarreal), while he guided Villa to the Europa Conference League semi-finals in 2023-24.
It remains to be seen how the West Midlands giants will cope with playing twice a week, but they got off to a winning start in the league by beating West Ham 2-1 at the London Stadium on August 17.
Image copyright: Getty Images
The Gunners will be hoping to take the next step after finishing runners-up to champions Manchester City in each of the last two seasons.
Mikel Arteta's side bottled it in 2022-23 after occupying top spot for a record 30 weeks and they came even closer the following campaign as the title race went down to the wire, with City eventually winning by a two-point margin.
The North Londoners kicked off their renewed title challenge with a 2-0 triumph over Wolves at the Emirates Stadium on August 17, thanks to goals either side of half-time from Kai Havertz (25') and Bukayo Saka (74').
They found the going tough against Villa last term, suffering defeats both home (2-0) and away (1-0), having done the league double over the Second City outfit in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Emery was pleased with the contribution made by the starting XI and the substitutes after Jacob Ramsey and Jhon Duran stepped off the bench to combine for the winner against the Hammers.
"It's fantastic," the Spaniard said. "The three points are very important for us and how we achieved that here, where it's very difficult in West Ham's stadium.
"The performance we got with different players in 90 minutes was fantastic, the commitment, the behaviour before the match, how they were focusing was fantastic.
"I am happy because we started the first match with three points, but now I'm focusing on the next match against Arsenal at home in Villa Park. I am very pleased with every player and how they played today."
Image Source: Alamy Stock Photo
Arteta has urged his players to show the same commitment throughout in a bid to dethrone City after a convincing display against Wolves.
"What I've seen is the willingness. Whether we're going to do it [win the title] or not, we'll have to show it every day in how we play and the results that we take away," the Spaniard said.
"In the first game there's always that uncertainty about how you're going to react, especially against a difficult opponent. We scored two, kept a clean sheet. Job done, score two, clean sheet, win.
"Win in any context. You'll have better days, or worse days. The opposition will guide you to play in a specific type of way. Today we won in a convincing way, but probably in a different way because it's what the game requires."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Aston Villa wins - 2
Arsenal wins - 3
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 2 fixtures:
Saturday, August 24
13h30: Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester United
16h00: Crystal Palace v West Ham United
16h00: Fulham v Leicester City
16h00: Manchester City v Ipswich Town
16h00: Southampton v Nottingham Forest
16h00: Tottenham Hotspur v Everton
18h30: Aston Villa v Arsenal
Sunday, August 25
15h00: Bournemouth v Newcastle United
15h00: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Chelsea
17h30: Liverpool v Brentford
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