Arsenal v Aston Villa – Match Preview and Betting Tip

Betting Tips | Article posted on August 15th, 2025

While they have been frustrated in the transfer market, Arsenal have had a promising pre-season, and will begin what looks like an attractive set of opening fixtures for them in optimistic fashion. Villa have managed to hold on to their star striker, Christian Benteke, and will hope his goals can contribute to them climbing the Premier League table this time out. The two teams meet at the Emirates Stadium at 3:00pm on Saturday 17th August.

Winner

Arsenal are, predictably, odds on favourites for this game, and they must be heavy favourites to beat Villa. The Midlands club might pose Arsenal a few problems at the back with their pace if the likes of Agbonlahor, Benteke and Weimann are on song. However, Arsenal will be desperate to get off to a better start that in previous seasons, and I think they will ultimately pick up the three points here. Best odds available for this outcome are 4/11 with Bet 365 and William Hill.

Correct Score

It’s always difficult to predict a high odds market like the correct score prediction on the opening day of the season, when there are no previous fixtures to rely on. However, one can at least say that the Arsenal XI – which is likely to be Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Wilshere, Ramsey, Arteta, Cazorla, Walcott, Giroud – is unchanged from last season, so one has some idea of what to expect. Villa have dipped into the European market to strengthen their squad, and will hope to have picked up another gem like Beneteke.

Arsenal’s defence doesn’t always inspire confidence, but they actually had the second best defensive record in the Premier League last season. The opening day of the season often plays host to nervy games that are low scoring, as teams try to find their feet again in the new season, so I’m going for Arsenal 2 – 0 Aston Villa in this one. You can get 7/1 on this outcome with BetVictor.

Under / Over 2.5 Goals

In concurrence with the previous market, I’m going for the under 2.5 bet in this market. Best odds available are 11/8 with Paddy Power.

Winning Margin

The marginal favourite in this market is for Arsenal to win by one goal, so a two goal Arsenal win offers decent value. You can get 10/3 on this outcome with Ladbrokes.

First Goalscorer

I am instantly ruling out any Aston Villa player in this market, as I believe that Arsenal will keep a clean sheet in this fixture. The usual suspects are at the head of the betting for this market, with such forwards as Podolski and Giroud fancied to score first, along with Arsenal’s solitary signing Yaya Sanogo. However, I’m a big fan of Theo Walcott, and think that the form he showed in the England international against Scotland will aid the self-belief of a player that tends to score in burst. Thus, I’m backing Walcott to score first in this market, available at 9/2 with numerous bookmakers including Coral.

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