Overview
- Leaders Arsenal (42 points) host third-placed Aston Villa (39) after Villa’s late win in the reverse fixture, with a Villa victory set to draw them level on points.
- Villa have publicly questioned the Premier League’s holiday calendar that sends them to London twice in roughly 72–75 hours and schedules a second Arsenal meeting before they face Nottingham Forest.
- Club executive Damian Vidagany said he received no clear explanation from the league for moving a second‑half fixture forward, describing the rationale as “a mystery.”
- Villa are without Boubacar Kamara and Matty Cash through suspension and Pau Torres and Tyrone Mings through injury, with additional absences for AFCON; Arsenal manage defensive injuries as Mikel Arteta notes concern over Viktor Gyokeres’ goal drought.
- With the January window opening this week, Arteta says Arsenal will be actively looking at options, while ex‑Villa defender Stephen Warnock urges his former club to add a defender, midfielder and attacker; the match is live in the UK on Sky Sports with streaming via Sky Go.