We assess just how important this fixture is to Arsenal's title dreams...
It's so far so good over the busy Christmas schedule for Arsenal with wins over Everton and Brighton in the league and victory over Palace in the quarter finals of the Carabao cup. A quite satisfactory outcome in all games one would imagine and a continuation of the winning mentality that the team has enjoyed this season. Two valuable wins but in reality, our position is as it was in the league prior to Christmas with title rivals, Manchester City and Aston Villa winning in both of their fixtures also. The 2-1 win against Brighton on December 27th seems like a close encounter but belies the fact that Arsenal should have seen this game out a lot more comfortable than the scoreline suggested. Arsenal took the lead through a fine 14th minute strike from Martin Odergaard after a key pass from Saka and after half time doubled their lead when the unfortunate Georginio Rutter turned the ball into his own net from an inswinging cross on 52 minutes from Declan Rice. Brighton's first real attempt on 64 minutes led to their goal and then a world class save from David Raya preserved the Gunners lead. Arteta had this to say in his post match press conference, stating that "Very happy with the performance, individually and collectively, so dominant. We were a big threat, so very pleased with all of that. But the margins should have been much bigger. I mean, with the amount of situations, chances, open chances that we generated through the game, it should never be 2-1. But that's the Premier League, that's the step that we have to make. I think the first shot that they had, they scored the goal and then David has to make another save to maintain the result".
That leads us nicely into our last game of 2025 and a very important one at that. Tuesday the 30th December will see a packed Emirates roar on Mikel Arteta's men as they face 3rd place Aston Villa who sit only three points back from the Gunners. Villa managed by former Arsenal boss, Unai Emery have with their win over Chelsea equaled a historic club record that has stood since March 1914. They are currently on a club record 11 game win streak and go into the game high on confidence. They won the reverse fixture against Arsenal 2-1 with a dramatic last minute goal by Buendia back in early December and will be encouraged by their current form.
As good as a goal 😮
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 27, 2025
Still thinking about this @daviidraya1 save to earn @Arsenal all three points 🧤 pic.twitter.com/7L6gOKqDoH
Timber & Gabriel
The Gunners are boosted by the welcome return of Gabriel, his 71st minute introduction on Saturday being the first appearance since early November, although Jurrien Timber's return to the squad isn't quite as straightforward having missed out on Saturday's win over Brighton. The stability that Gabriel brings to the backline however does not go unnoticed and the confidence that he instills in the squad with his presence is immeasurable. Villa offer a significant threat to the Arsenal rearguard through their inform frontline of Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen and a quiet night for the Arsenal back four would be welcomed. Down through the years and specifically over the last 33 match ups, , Arsenal have the edge over Villa in their recent encounters with the London club winning 19 of those matches with Villa winning on 9 occasions, the remaining 5 games ending in a draw. Although the form stats indicate an Arsenal bias over these games, you have to go back to the 31st August 2022 for the last home victory against the Villians, goals from Jesus and Martinelli securing the points with Villas reply coming from Doulas Luis in the 74th minute. All eyes on this game then with Pep Guardiola and Manchester City having a vested interest in the outcome with a draw suiting their own title aspirations. The Gunners have won an impressive 8 from their 9 home games this season, drawing the other and scoring 22 and conceding only 4 goals in those games. A win on Tuesday opens up a six point gap between themselves and Villa and derails their title charge for now.
🗞 Strong team spirit
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 27, 2025
🗞 Today's performance
🗞 Gabriel's return
Read every word from Mikel's post-Brighton presser 👇
