Good morning from Villa Park
Welcome to our live coverage of Saturday’s lunchtime Premier League kick-off between Aston Villa and Arsenal.
The fixtures keep on coming thick and fast in the top-flight – much to the fury of Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners boss hit out at the ‘unfair’ scheduling that has his team back in action at 12.30pm, having not finished their defeat to Liverpool until after ten at night on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, with Manchester United not playing again until April, today’s contest presents the Londoners with an opportunity to strengthen their stranglehold on the much-coveted fourth place.
A win would take Arteta’s men four points clear of United in fifth, with another game in hand still to be played.
Their other rivals – both in the capital and the race for the Champions League football – Tottenham and West Ham meet each other tomorrow.
Standing in Arsenal’s way first, however, are a Villa side enjoying the Steven Gerrard revolution.
The Liverpool legend has transformed the look of the Villains since heading south from Rangers, and added serious star quality with the likes of Philippe Coutinho.
Results have been mixed, but Villa fans are enjoying the ride, and are relishing their team once again upsetting the big guns. Will that be the case again today?
We’ve 90 minutes until the scheduled start in the West Midlands, and team news is on the way.