The Gunners sit five points clear at the summit, having restored their cushion with a 2-0 win over Brentford on Wednesday.
Manchester City had closed the gap to two points with a topsy-turvy 5-4 victory at Fulham, but Mikel Arteta’s side remain the pace-setters moving towards the festive season.
Villa, meanwhile, came from behind to beat Brighton in midweek, edging a thriller 4-3 at the Amex as Ollie Watkins netted a brace.
Jan Paul van Hecke and a Pau Torres own goal had put the Seagulls two up inside half an hour, but Watkins’ double, added to by Amadou Onana and Donyell Malen, hauled Villa up to third in the table, a point off City and six adrift of their opponents this weekend.
Date, kick-off time and venue
Aston Villa vs Arsenal is scheduled for a 12.30pm GMT kick-off on Saturday, December 6 2025.
The match will take place at Villa Park.
Where to watch Aston Villa vs Arsenal
TV channel: In the UK, the game will be televised live on TNT Sports 1, with coverage starting at 11.30am GMT ahead of the 12.30pm GMT kick-off.
Live stream: TNT Sports subscribers can also catch the contest live online via the Discovery+ app and website.
Live blog: You can follow all the action on matchday via Standard Sport’s live blog, with expert analysis from Simon Collings at the ground.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal team news
Unai Emery’s side have three major injury concerns.
Perhaps the biggest is former Arsenal goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who pulled out of the win at Brighton in the warm-up with a lower back injury.
Emery issued an update on his No1 after the match, praising deputy Marco Bizot for standing in. It remains unclear whether the Argentine will be fit enough to return to action for this match.
Otherwise, it is Ross Barkley and Tyrone Mings that are the other two absentees. Barkley has a knee injury that will keep him out until February, while Mings is likely to be sidelined until the new year with his thigh injury.
Mosquera, however, came off at half-time, with Arteta saying that it was either the knee or ankle for the Spaniard. As to the extent of his lay-off, the Arsenal boss was unsure.
William Saliba sat out once again on Wednesday after missing the draw with Chelsea, with Arteta citing an ankle niggle as the issue for the Frenchman.
Kai Havertz’s return continues to be pushed back, and Gabriel is a longer-term absentee. Leandro Trossard is set to be back in “a matter of days”.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal prediction
Trips to Villa Park have born mixed results for the Gunners.
Their most recent visit was a fruitful one, emerging with a 2-0 win in August last year.
At the Emirates, however, they were held to a 2-2 draw.
Villa are often tricky customers, and are the form side in the division – excluding Arsenal – having won six games on the spin.
This should be a highly entertaining game with both sides throwing caution to the wind.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
Aston Villa vs Arsenal match odds
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
