Arsenal predicted lineup, team and injury news as Fabio Vieira update emerges ahead of Aston Villa

Arsenal will travel to take on Aston Villa in a Premier League clash this weekend

Arsenal will have unpleasant memories of their encounters with Aston Villa last season.

The Midlands outfit beat the Gunners home and away in the Premier League last time around. Arsenal icon Robert Pires blames one Aston Villa defeat for handing the title to Manchester City.

Mikel Arteta will be desperate to banish that pain with a positive result at Villa Park on Saturday evening.

The Spanish coach will name the strongest starting XI he can for this fixture and seek to take the game to Unai Emery’s side.

Arsenal team and injury news ahead of Aston Villa

Arsenal have a relatively clean bill of health. Of the players who might have otherwise been in the manager’s plans for this match, only Takehiro Tomiyasu is still sidelined.

Arteta recently provided a timeline for Tomiyasu’s return, and the Japanese defender certainly won’t be available for this fixture. Meanwhile, Kieran Tierney is also still receiving treatment for an injury that he picked up at Euro 2024, but it is safe to say that the Scotland international is not in Arteta’s plans in any case.

Fabio Vieira, though, could play a part against Aston Villa. The Portuguese playmaker picked up a knock in pre-season, but has now returned to training, as reported by The Standard.

Vieira has a point to prove at Arsenal this season, and will be desperate to get back onto the pitch and prove his worth to the North London club.

Predicted Arsenal XI to face Aston Villa

We expect a largely unchanged side to the one that beat Wolves last time out. However, Jurrien Timber could come in at left-back, replacing Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Zinchenko did will enough against Wolves, but would likely be targeted by Aston Villa’s rapid attackers, namely Leon Bailey, this weekend. Arsenal fans are desperate for Timber to start in the Ukrainian’s stead.

If the Dutchman is fit and ready for this match, then he would likely be better equipped to deal with the threat that the hosts will pose in that part of the pitch.

David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Jurrien Timber; Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli.