English Premier League Soccer
It’s been a bit of an odd start to this EPL season, but we may get a bit of clarity this week with at least the two teams in our featured match up. Match day five highlights a game between Arsenal (1-3-0) and Aston Villa (3-1-0) at Villa Park this Saturday.
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There are just three sides left in the EPL who hold unbeaten records, and two of them will square off on Saturday when Arsenal makes a stop at Villa Park to take on Aston Villa.
EPL Betting Lines
When: Saturday, Sept 20 at 10:00am ET
Where: Villa Park
TV: TSN
EPL Line: Arsenal -0.5
EPL O/U: 2.5
EPL Gambling Odds Provided by TOPBET.eu
As mentioned, it’s been a curious start to the season, with Chelsea standing alone atop the league at 4-0-0 and the lone team from the top four a season ago who are in the top four at present.
Arsenal and Aston Villa are both undefeated, though Villa have been making more out of their results thus far with three wins in four matches, while Arsenal have shared points in three games with just one victory to show in four matches.
Let’s take a look at how these two stack up this week.
Arsenal
Starting with the visitor (or going alphabetically, whichever you prefer), Arsenal have had a pretty mediocre start to their campaign. They have struggled at times to find consistency at the back and as a result have yet to record a clean sheet this season. Going forward the Gunners haven’t been much better aside from new addition Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey who have provided four of Arsenal’s seven goals (for reference: Chelsea’s Diego Costa has seven goals on his own this season).
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Arsenal are coming off a decent result a week ago in a 2-2 draw at home against Manchester City, a game that by all accounts they could have won, save for a late equalizer by City’s Martin Demichelis in the 83rd minute. The Gunners were thoroughly outclassed on Tuesday in their Champion’s League match against Borussia Dortmund where they lost 2-0 at the Signal Iduna Park in Germany, while being outshot 23-4.
Aston Villa
Villa have had a roaring start to their campaign thanks in large part to some hard nosed defensive play. Villa have scored just four goals in four games, but have three clean sheets to show as well, and have allowed just one goal thus far.
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Their most impressive win to this point came last week, in a hard earned 1-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield thanks to a ninth minute goal from Gabriel Agbonlahor. Villa was able to shut the door for the remaining 81 minutes and get themselves the three points and sole possession of second place in the EPL.
With the ball this team won’t wow you with a lot of flair and uptempo play, but they are a sound team without the ball and are well-coached by Manager Paul Lambert. If Villa can get a win this week it will match their best start since 1998-99 when they started 4-1-0.
Arsenal vs Aston Villa Free Pick
Historically, the Gunners have had Villa’s number, as Villa have won just three of the last 32 meetings between the two. One of those victories however came last year in the season opener when Villa downed Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal leveled the season series by winning 2-1 at Villa Park in January.
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Arsenal have not been able to find a win in the EPL since their opening week win over Crystal Palace and have not enjoyed a good spell of form as of yet. All signs point to a draw in this one as Arsenal should be able to carry the run of play, but their lack of finishing touch combined with Villa’s staunch defense will make their task a trying one.
Villa can hit Arsenal on the counter, as the Gunners have been very susceptible to attacks when turning the ball over. If Villa is to win this, it will be by laying in the weeds and waiting for an opportunity to pounce.
I’m still going with a draw in this one, 1-1.
Pick the Draw paying +230
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