Seeking another scalp at his former stomping ground, Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery takes his Lions side to the Emirates to face Arsenal in Saturday evening's Premier League contest.

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Several times already this season Arsenal have failed to capitalise on mistakes from their title rivals, but after Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Liverpool all let points slip from their grasp on Tuesday, Mikel Arteta's men did not let another golden opportunity pass them by.

On the back of consecutive EFL Cup and FA Cup defeats, Arsenal welcomed a Spurs side boasting back-to-back wins in the knockout competitions, but form inevitably went out of the window as Dominic Solanke's own goal and Leandro Trossard's strike rendered Son Heung-min's opener meaningless.

A plethora of promising attacks petered out in the second half for Arsenal - further highlighting their need for a ruthless finisher in the January window - but Arteta's men never looked in danger of losing their slender lead and have returned to the runners-up position in the Premier League table.

Furthermore, the gap to leaders Liverpool has been cut down to four points - although the Reds still have their game in hand against Everton to come next month - and the Gunners are now officially the best team in the Premier League when it comes to home form alone.

Indeed, Arteta's men have taken an unrivalled 24 points from a possible 30 at their Emirates headquarters, where they are still unbeaten in the Premier League this season, although few Gooners will need reminding of the game that ultimately cost them the title in 2023-24.

Already completing his Arsenal revenge mission after his premature 2019 departure, Emery delivered the killer blow to the Gunners' Premier League hopes last April, masterminding a 2-0 triumph for Villa in what remains the hosts' most recent top-flight loss on home soil.

Replicating that result this time around is not beyond the realm of possibility for the West Midlands side, who have condemned their awful autumnal period to history and head to North London fresh from a third win on the bounce in all competitions.

After beginning 2025 with back-to-back 2-1 wins over Leicester City and West Ham United in the league and FA Cup respectively, Villa also prevailed by a one-goal margin at Goodison Park on Wednesday, where Ollie Watkins condemned Moyes to a losing start to his second spell as Everton boss.

As a result, Emery's seventh-placed side find themselves just three points adrift of the Champions League positions, and victory on Merseyside ended an abysmal away run for the Lions, who had previously lost five straight Premier League games on rival territory while failing to keep a single clean sheet since their Emirates success last April.

However, Arsenal have already avenged that devastating defeat with a 2-0 success of their own at Villa Park in August - still the Lions' only Premier League home loss of the campaign to date - and righting the wrongs of last season's home humbling would see them pass another massive test of their title credentials.

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