Ray Parlour makes score prediction for PL clash between Aston Villa and Arsenal

BBC pundit Ray Parlour has tipped Arsenal to come out victorious against Aston Villa. He made his prediction ahead of the crunch Premier League meeting between both sides at Villa Park on August 24.

The Gunners will be hoping to secure back-to-back wins in the league this season after kicking off the 2024-25 football campaign with a decent 2-0 win at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, a visit to Villa Park against Unai Emery's Aston Villa side is expected to be an even more difficult fixture for Arteta's men.

Aston Villa themselves picked up an impressive 2-1 win against West Ham United on matchday one and would be hoping to secure a decent result against Arsenal, whom they beat towards the end of last season.

Meanwhile, football pundit, Parlour has tipped Arteta's side to secure a hard-fought win against Villa. The former Gunners player predicted a 2-1 win in favor of Arteta's men.

Speaking to Talk Sports, he said:

"They (Arsenal) weren’t great against Wolves. It was a bit stop-start, the first 20, 25 minutes, they weren’t as flowing as they usually are."

He concluded:

"But I have got to go with Arsenal to nick a result here. I am going to go 2-1. Saka was unbelievable and played really well against Wolves. He is going to continue at Aston Villa and score a goal. 2-1.”

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Mikel Arteta reacts to why Arsenal lost twice to Aston Villa last season

The Gunners will be hoping to exert some form of revenge on Aston Villa when both teams face each other this weekend in the Premier League.

Unai Emery's Villa beat Arsenal twice, 1-0 and 2-0, respectively, when both teams met during the 2023-24 PL campaign. The second meeting at the Emirates last season even went as far as dashing the Gunners' chances of winning the PL title.

Speaking on why his side lost both games against Villa last season, Arteta said (via the club's official website):

"They scored and we didn’t, it’s very simple. In two games we had an enormous amount of chances to do that, and that was the big difference. There were other details for sure which we have analysed, and we will have to do better tomorrow because they are a really good side with a good coach."

On why Aston Villa are a difficult side to come up against, Arteta said:

"They dominate every aspect of the game, when you give them space to run they are phenomenal, when there is no space and they have to find it they can do that. In any restarts or set-pieces, they are at it, and that’s why they did what they did."