Aston Villa vs Arsenal LIVE: Team news, line ups confirmed, Mikel Arteta makes SIX changes

ASTON VILLA vs ARSENAL | LIVE!

• Aston Villa have lost six consecutive Premier League matches against Arsenal, by an aggregate score of 19-3

• Arsenal (53) are guaranteed to end this campaign on their lowest points total for a 38-match Premier League season

• Aston Villa will be relegated if Watford better their result against Manchester City

• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored 66 goals for Arsenal in all competitions

• The Gunners are unbeaten in 18 of their 20 matches versus teams below them in the table

Aston Villa XI: Reina, Elmohamady, Mings, Konsa, Targett, McGinn, Hourihane, Luiz, Grealish, Trezeguet, Samatta

Arsenal XI: Martinez, Soares, Holding, Luiz, Kolasinac, Saka, Torreira, Ceballos, Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah

Twitter round-up

Jean-Michail: The only uncertainty surrounding Aubameyang’s hat-trick today is how the goals will be divided between the two halves.

Matt: Come on lads lets send this football-playing Arthur Shelby where he belongs, Championship! COYG!

Dwight: interested to see the shape up front today with both Alexandre Lacazette & Eddie Nketiah in there. Will Laca be more of a false 9 today? Nketiah doesn’t tend to play out wide?

Antonio: If this Watford vs Manchester City result doesn’t motivate the Villa players to at least out work and run their opponents then they don’t deserve to play PL football next season!

I believe Matt is referring to Jack Grealish looking like the fella from Peaky Blinders…

And the top half…

Arsenal are in tenth on 53 points and I can’t really see Mikel Arteta’s side securing European football through the Premier League.

They can reach a maximum of 59 points and that’s the number of points that sixth-placed Wolves are on already. Tottenham are in seventh on 58 points with a superior goal difference. Six more than their north London rivals.

Maybe… maybe… but Arsenal could do with a BIG win tonight and Sunday.

Latest standings

This is big. This could be really, really big folks.

Manchester City are now winning 4-0 against Watford with over 20 minutes remaining on the clock.

Other than being embarrassing and a pitiful performance… that leaves the Hornets level on goal difference with Aston Villa and Bournemouth. They are all on -27.

Watford have also scored the LEAST goals out of the three. So IF Villa can win tonight then they’ll jump out of the relegation zone.

Final games? Watford have Arsenal away, Villa travel to West Ham and Bournemouth are up against Everton at Goodison Park.

Team news – Arsenal

Mikel Arteta makes SIX changes from the side who beat Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday. Yes, that’s right, six.

Eddie Nketiah, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang AND Alexandre Lacazette all start for Arsenal.

In come Lucas Torreira, Rob Holding, Cedric Soares, Eddie Nketiah, Sead Kolasinac and Bukayo Saka.

Out go Granit Xhaka, Nicolas Pepe, Shkodran Mustafi, Kieran Tierney, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Hector Bellerin.

Team news – Aston Villa

Dean Smith sticks with the same starting XI who drew with Everton at Goodison Park last Thursday. Deserved to win that night.

Kortney Hause returns to the squad after injury. Oh, and will tonight be Jack Grealish’s last game in a Villa shirt at Villa Park?

Starting XI

Team news arrives at precisely 7.17pm. Sorry, was heating up my lasagne… Mikel Arteta is going for it tonight with his selection, very attacking indeed.

Aston Villa XI: Reina, Elmohamady, Mings, Konsa, Targett, McGinn, Hourihane, Luiz, Grealish, Trezeguet, Samatta.

Subs: Nyland, Lansbury, Nakamba, El Ghazi, Jota, Guilbert, Hause, Vassilev, Davis.

Arsenal XI: Martinez, Soares, Holding, Luiz, Kolasinac, Saka, Torreira, Ceballos, Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah.

Subs: Macey, Bellerin, Tierney, Sokratis, Maitland-Niles, Pepe, Willock, Xhaka, Smith.

The latest…

Aston Villa supporters will be watching events at Vicarage Road. In fact they’ll be glued.

Watford, as you’ll know, inexplicably sacked Nigel Pearson with two games remaining in a move that’s turned the universe football family against them.

“They deserved that,” will be the cry if they can’t avoid the drop.

Anyway, they trail Manchester City 2-0 after the 50-minute mark. It looks like it could potentially be 10-0 come full time and that could be great news for the Villans.

Rodri has actually completed more passes than the entire Watford team. Let that sink in.

Evening…

Hello everyone and welcome to our LIVE coverage of Aston Villa vs Arsenal from Villa Park.

Big night? Just a bit.

Dean Smith’s Villans have just two fixtures remaining to save their top-flight status. A win tonight would be… well I don’t think there’s a word big enough to do it justice.

But points against an Arsenal team who have just beaten Liverpool AND Manchester City on consecutive matches will not be easy.

I’ll get into the nitty-gritty in a few moments. Team news and line ups coming shortly. Standby.