The second round of the 2026/27 English Premier League season concludes on Monday the 31st of August with a fixture at Villa Park. Aston Villa welcome defending Champions Arsenal in a meeting between two sides who experienced very different opening weekends. We cover the match from a betting angle below.
Outright Betting Update
Let’s start with a look at the Outright Betting where defending Campions Arsenal are favourites to retain the Premier League title at 1.90 with Manchester City their closest challengers at 4.50. Chelsea trade at 6.00 while Liverpool and Manchester United are available at 15.00.
Click here for the latest EPL Outright Betting Markets.
ASTON VILLA vs ARSENAL
Aston Villa have made a poor start to the 2026/27 Premier League campaign. They opened their season away to Brighton last weekend and suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat, with all 4 goals conceded in the opening 31 minutes. The result leaves Villa 17th in the early league standings with no points from their opening fixture.
Villa will need to bounce back quickly or it is going to be a long and hard season.
Arsenal looked strong in their first clash of the season. The defending champions opened their run at home to Coventry City on the 21st of August and recorded a convincing 3-0 victory. They led 2-0 at the break and added the 3rd 4 minutes into the 2nd half. The week before Arsenal beat Man City 3-0 in the Community Shield.
Head-to-Head:
Aston Villa have won three of the last six meetings between the sides, with Arsenal claiming two victories and the remaining encounter ending in a draw. Villa won 2-1 when Arsenal visited Villa Park in December 2025, before Arsenal responded with a convincing 4-1 victory in the return fixture at Emirates later that month.
Three of the last six encounters produced over 2.5 goals, while both teams scored in these matches as well, so there are no obvious trends in this area.
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Betting – Click here to bet
Aston Villa 6.25
Draw 4.50
Arsenal 1.54
Verdict:
Aston Villa will be desperate to respond after their heavy 4-0 defeat to Brighton and will take confidence from their recent record against Arsenal at Villa Park.
However, Arsenal have started the new campaign in impressive fashion and their defence looks rock solid.
The visitors should have enough quality to collect all three points, although Villa’s home advantage and strong recent record in this fixture mean it may not be straight forward.
I expect a competitive clash, and I am backing Arsenal to win in a high scoring game.
BET: Result and Totals – Arsenal and Over 2.5 Goals at 2.25
Note: All prices were correct at the time of writing but are subject to change.
