There will be a lot going on at The Emirates this weekend, as the visit of Championship-bound Aston Villa gives Arsenal the chance to end a dismal season on a high.
Things have gone from bad to worse for the Gunners in recent months, but following a gutsy defensive showing at Manchester City, we can expect a little more from the home side.
Aston Villa have made a name for themselves for all the wrong reasons in the 2015/16 campaign, and both the supporters and players will be desperate for the full-time whistle on Sunday afternoon.
Arsenal on the other hand could have the chance to leapfrog their local rivals Spurs, if they lose at recently relegated Newcastle and the Gunners win then second place will be confirmed.
Champions League football is in the bag already and Arsene Wenger’s side need just a point to confirm third place, meaning no qualification games for Europe’s biggest tournament.
Team News
Arsenal
During his pre-match press conference the boss confirmed that things were pretty much similar to the squad that picked up a 2-2 draw at the Etihad last weekend.
The big news in the week was that Danny Welbeck is set to miss up to nine months of action following the knee injury he picked up, meaning his Euro 2016 dream is dead and buried.
Mesut Ozil will be back in contention for a starting place following his surprise omission from the team a week ago due to a slight hip injury picked up in training.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain remains on the sidelines and is targeting a return in early June, so missing the trip to France but a great chance to work hard in pre-season training.
Elsewhere, the midfield trio of Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Thomas Rosicky are all set to experience their final weekend as an Arsenal player, and Wenger could hand them stints if the result is going as expected.
Absentees: P. Mertesacker, D. Welbeck, A. Oxlade-Chamberlain
Aston Villa
Things are going from bad to worse for Eric Black, the caretaker manager forced into a job that nobody wants at the moment, with multiple injuries to contend with.
Full-backs Alan Hutton (calf) and Ciaran Clark (ankle) haven’t trained this week after picking up knocks, meaning Villa will have to turn their attention to the youth.
Kieran Richardson has still not recovered from his calf problem meaning he’ll be on the touchline alongside midfielder Jordan Veretout.
Rudy Gestede and Aly Cissokho are back for selection though, giving Villa some options in the attacking areas but they’ll need to be at their best to get past Petr Cech.
Absentees: A. Hutton, K. Richardson, C. Clark, J. Veretout
One To Watch
Arsenal  – Mesut Ozil
He’s been stuck on 18 Premier League assists for a while now, but this weekend marks a real chance for Ozil to equal Thierry Henry’s season record of 20.
Fresh back into the side from injury, the German is looking to put on one last performance to head into the Euro’s with confidence, and show the North London club’s supporters he’s sticking around.
Wenger has a catalogue of players to rotate in and around that midfield area and if he can get Santi Cazorla back into the starting XI then you can bet anything the pair will link up beautifully.
It should be a fairly straightforward game for the playmaker, and that’s usually when we see him at his best having the comfort to take on a defence that have conceded 72 goals this season.
Aston Villa – Jordan Ayew
I’m gonna be honest, it was difficult to sit here and talk about a Villa player that has shown any desire to stay in this division, but this man has been a bright light at the end of a very dark tunnel.
Following his transfer back at the start of the season things looked promising for the striker, who’s brother Andre was flying in form over at Swansea.
Not content on sitting in the shadow of his sibling, Ayew has bagged seven goals for Villa this year, and remarkably that makes him their top scorer.
If there’s any threat at all then it’ll be from this guy, he’s got to the stage in the career where he’ll try anything to get a strike on goal, so Cech has to be on his toes whilst between the sticks.
Likely Line-Ups
Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Cech, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Elneny, Wilshere, Alexis, Ozil, Iwobi, Giroud
Aston Villa (4-3-2-1)
Guzan, Richards, Okore, Lescott, Toner, Sanchez, Westwood, Gueye, Ayew, Sinclair, Gestede
Prediction: Arsenal 3 – 0 Aston Villa
You can’t really see this one going any other way, and with the Villa backline suffering worse than ever it could be a good day to be an Arsenal fan.
Getting one over on Spurs will be at the front of these players minds, so expect them to go full steam ahead in their attacking duties, with Mesut Ozil leading the line.
Olivier Giroud will have the chance to show Wenger what he can offer one last time before the Gunners boss heads into the transfer market to find a replacement for the injured Welbeck.
Villa on the other hand will just be happy to put on some sort of display to end this season whilst they can, a full reshuffle is needed if they’re going to make it back into the Premier League.
Expect goals and plenty of them, but the way these sides have been playing, three in the net could be the least of Villa’s worries when it comes to Sunday afternoon.
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