This season's Premier League title race has entered the final straight sprint, and who can have the last laugh between Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool has become the focus of fans' attention. Manchester City thrashed Luton Town 5-1 in the 33rd round of the Premier League this weekend, while Liverpool overturned at home to Crystal Palace, giving the last-featured Arsenal hope of reaching the top of the table as they host fourth-placed Villa. With Arsenal losing 1-0 away in the first leg between the two sides, the Gunners will naturally be hoping for revenge. In this game, Arsenal couldn't attack for a long time, Leon Bailey and Watkins scored two goals in 3 minutes, and Villa beat the Gunners 2-0 and assisted Manchester City to sit at the top of the table!
Despite the Champions League clash with Bayern Munich in midweek, Mikel Arteta remained unapologetic and put on his usual 4-3-3 formation, with Raya continuing to guard the net for Arsenal, Ben White, Saliba, Gabriel and Zinchenko in defence, with Kai Havertz, Rice and Odegaard still in midfield, Gabriel Jesus playing as central striker and Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard on either side.
Not to be outdone, Unai Emery set up a 4-4-2 formation for the game, with the likes of Ollie Watkins, McGinn, Moussa Diaby, Tielemans, Zaniolo and Digne all in action, with Martin continuing to guard the final hurdle for Villa.
As the game began, Arsenal, who were playing at home, immediately took control of the initiative and launched a fierce attack on the Villa goal. In the 11th minute, Leandro Trossard cut inside on the left and suddenly sent a scalpel through, and Havertz cut in from a tight angle, which was brilliantly cleared by Martin.
Five minutes later, Zinchenko's long pass from the back was just right, but Havertz adjusted too much and barely managed to shoot under the interference of the Villa defenders, but failed to test Martin. In the 20th minute, it was Odegaard's turn to make a precise straight stop, Saka stepped forward at high speed on the right, forced a shot from a small angle, and helplessly hit the side netting.
In the 38th minute, Gabriel's pass from the back hit Zinchenko's back, Watkins cut the ball off and fired a powerful shot from inside the box, the ball went straight to the far corner, and then hit the post and bounced. Arsenal, who escaped the catastrophe, quickly returned the color through a counterattack, Saka knocked back at the edge of the penalty area, Odegaard's long-range shot was blocked, Jesus crossed from the right, Trossard pushed from close range, and Big Martin contributed to the save!
One minute later, Gabriel Jesus returned a pass in the box, and Bukayo Saka cut in and grazed the post out of bounds, and the two teams returned to the dressing room with a 0-0 scoreline. Back on the pitch, Arsenal continued to attack and in the 51st minute Havertz pushed to the edge of the box to deliver a through ball that Gabriel Jesus was brought over by Diego Carlos, but the referee denied a penalty for a reasonable physical confrontation.
Unable to find the back of the net for a long time, the mentality of the Arsenal players began to change, and they became more and more impatient in handling the ball. In the 62nd minute, Zinchenko's backfield was broken, Tielemans forced a kick from a small angle, Raya couldn't reach it, but the ball hit the crossbar and bounced off the post!
Two minutes later, Bukayo Saka played the ball down the right and Gabriel Jesus followed up with a direct shot at goal, but Martin responded with a world-class save and flew to denie the ball with one palm.
In the 79th minute, Mikel Arteta made a desperate gamble, with Smith Rowe and Jorginho coming on as substitutes.
In the 84th minute, Arsenal suffered a major blow, Digne crossed from the left, Leon Bailey outflanked and pushed into the net, Villa broke the deadlock, 1-0!
Arsenal, who were behind, were forced to press all the way up, giving their opponents plenty of room to counter-attack. In the 87th minute, Jorginho's direct pass was broken, Tielemans made a long pass in the backfield, Watkins scored his 19th league goal with a single shot, and continued to chase Haaland, Villa killed the game with 2 goals in 3 minutes!
With a 2-0 home defeat, Arsenal were beaten by Villa's season double and failed to take advantage of Liverpool's opportunity to drop the chain to reach the top. Manchester City became the number one winner, receiving two big gifts in a row, sitting at the top of the table with a two-point advantage, and the fourth consecutive Premier League title is just around the corner.