LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 27: Arsenal's William Saliba tells Gabriel Martinelli the set piece during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Ipswich Town FC at Emirates Stadium on December 27, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Stephanie Meek - CameraSport via Getty Images)(Image: Stephanie Meek - CameraSport via Getty Images)
William Saliba starts, Sterling out and Martinelli in - Arsenal predicted XI vs Aston Villa
football.london takes a look at how Mikel Arteta could line his Gunners side up for their Premier League clash with Aston Villa
Arsenal have found a new lease of life following their win in the North London Derby in midweek but now face an arguably tougher task. Unai Emery is bringing his side to the Emirates Stadium in the hope of wrecking the club's title plans for a second season.
Ollie Watkins broke Arsenal fans' hearts last year in a game they should have led in as Leandro Trossard missed a big first-half chance. It would be the only league game his side would lose in the second half of the campaign. With some key players still missing but others close to a return, Arteta will be hoping for the opposite outcome this time around.
There is certainly a need for the reinforcement both internally and externally but Arteta will be playing with the cards he has already been dealt for this battle. With that said football.london delves into who we think will start this weekend.
David Raya
David Raya made a couple of big saves in the past week-plus and as he looks to face-off against Ollie Watkins, he will again need to be in some of his best form. Replicating his clean sheet at Villa Park would be glorious to see again.(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
After playing an intense amount of games this season, perhaps more than he should have following such a serious injury, Jurrien Timber will be expected to play again. Ben White is closing in on a potential return but remains still some time away.
There have been some rumours of William Saliba dealing with a hamstring complaint after the clash with Tottenham, but with no clarification available on that we have to assume he starts on Saturday evening.(Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
The man of the match against Tottenham, his third time receiving the award against Spurs, and the Brazilian could scarcely be in better form. Watkins will need to be at his best to have a hope against the Gunners' wall.(Image: Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
While Myles Lewis-Skelly has played a handful of games now, it felt like he truly announced himself against Tottenham. That energy and connection with fans has been established but he faces perhaps his trickiest test yet with Leon Bailey this weekend.
Not his best performance as he made a couple of mistakes against Tottenham. However, it was his tackle which led to the Gunners' winning goal - it will be this aspect that will hope to be replicated on Saturday late afternoon.(Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
On the other end of the midfield performance spectrum, Declan Rice was almost unplayable in the derby. He will have to be on it once again and put in another physically dominant display to get the best of the Emery press and midfield ferocity.(Image: (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images))
The Arsenal skipper is truly back to his best again and provided the assist for the winner in the derby with his setup for Leandro Trossard. He still, however, does need to find a way into the scoring charts himself and could do here.
Martinelli was a substitute against Tottenham and is therefore the freshest of the senior forwards available to Mikel Arteta to start the weekend. He will need to test his running power against a stubborn Villa defence.
After scoring against Tottenham and having already notched a winner against Aston Villa earlier in the season, the stage is set for Leandro Trossard. With a new Belgian head coach on the way, he has a clean slate to impress the next manager too, and can start here.(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
While he did not score against Spurs, Kai Havertz did get one of the biggest cheers of the evening on Wednesday. He will again look to put right some of his finishing wrongs and a winner in such a big game would provide plenty of positivity for the German international.(Image: (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images))