Arsenal vs. Aston Villa Betting Tips: The Gooners to make Villans out of Gerrard's men on Wednesday

If you thought things couldn't get much worse for Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa, you were sadly mistaken. Having only taken three points from a wounded Everton so far this campaign, the Villans reside in 15th place before Tuesday's state of play, with the transfer window about to slam shut, only two current centre backs available for selection and games against Arsenal and Manchester City up next.

This couldn't be wider of the mark in Arsenal's case. Gerrard alluded to Wednesday's counterpart being in a similar predicament to himself this time last year, and while that's somewhat true, the signs of what Arteta could do with the Gooners and his willingness to persist with his carefully devised plan have helped them now reap the rewards.

As painful of a task as it may be, our in-house Villa fan @LAHamalam has scoured the markets for this clash to hopefully provide a couple of winners which appear as though they're going to be at his own club's expense...

Arsenal come into this one as overwhelming favourites, best priced at 1/2 with SpreadEx for the victory at the Emirates. Having delivered four wins from their opening four games and being the only English top flight side to boast a 100% record in the new season, we've no doubt they are going to add further misery to the travelling claret and blue party in the capital.

Mikel Arteta has his side playing with a real swagger and distinctive style which is the absolute antithesis of Aston Villa at this moment in time. Don't expect the visitors to leave much of a footprint on this affair, as Gerrard's battle to keep his head above water with two extremely tough matches back-to-back will likely see him increase defensive duties in front of a boisterous Arsenal crowd whose team could further cement their reign at the top of the pile with a win.

Backing this with bet365 means that if Arsenal go two goals up in the match, which they have done on 3/4 occasions this term, this leg of the bet will be successful. Both of Villa's away trips in the 22/23 season have also seen them suffer a loss by a two-goal margin.

Rather than opt for such a short match result price, we're going to pair this with Ollie Watkins to have over 0.5 shots on target for a 21/10 double with bet365.

The boyhood Gooner has endured his fair share of unfair criticism, as talks of a poor conversion rate don't carry much weight according to the stats. No Aston Villa player had more shots on shots on target than the 26-year-old last season, finishing as the Midlands club's top scorer with 11 in the PL.

During this time, he had at least one shot on target in 22 of his 35 league matches, including Villa's miserable 3-1 defeat at the Emirates back in October 2021.

Digging further and the striker has had a shot on target in his last three matches, meaning he's found success with this half of the bet in 11/13 of his most recent outings in a Villa shirt.

With only one winger at the club in the form of a discontented Leon Bailey, it's safe to assume SG will persist with a strike partnership of Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins, giving this main bet a great shot of delivering.

Villa's defence, the very fabric to their ascent a little over 12 months prior, is now one of their most damning weaknesses in this disintegrating team. A long-term injury to new addition Diego Carlos, Watford's loaning of Kourtney Hause and the continued absence of Tyrone Mings has left AVFC with just two fit senior centre backs.

While Ezri Konsa has suffered an enormous fall from grace due to a sudden drop in performances and deflated confidence, Calum Chambers has typically been afforded praise on the few occasions he's stepped in on short notice.

One of those happened to be when he came in for the injured Tyrone Mings in Sunday's defeat to West Ham in front of the Villa Park faithful, where the defender committed two fouls. Neither he nor Konsa have been big culprits for bringing down their opponents illegally often, but Wednesday's direct opponent might test this patience.

Gabriel Jesus is enjoying a lively start to life as a Gooner, giving their attack a real focal point down the opposition's throat and making a real nuisance of himself at every given opportunity. Villa will grant Arsenal the majority of the ball and defend tightly, presumably with the attention of keeping their narrow shape and containing the centre forward in any area inside their own half.

The added attraction of Calum Chambers returning to his former club and wanting to make a good impression gives him the edge over Konsa if he's able to keep the jersey.

If Mings does return and replaces Chambers, take the 19/5 on offer at BetVictor for Ezri Konsa to be entered into the referee's book instead.

Please gamble responsibly.