Arsenal, Aston Villa

In-form Aston Villa will face Premier League leaders Arsenal at the Villa Park this weekend, while Sunderland prepare for a tough test at Manchester City.

Aston Villa failed to manage a single goal in their first four Premier League games of the season but they have won eight of their past nine league matches to climb to third in the table.

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Arsenal

A major plus for Villa in their 4-3 win at Brighton in midweek was two goals for Ollie Watkins, who had previously found the net just once all season.

If Villa beat Arsenal on Saturday, they would be just three points behind Mikel Arteta’s front-runners.

Villa, under former Arsenal boss Unai Emery, have lost just once in their past four meetings with the Gunners.

Meanwhile, Sunderland are defying expectations and recent Premier League history as they prepare for a tough test at Manchester City.

In each of the past two seasons, the three promoted teams have gone straight back down to the Championship.

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Leeds and Burnley, who came up with Sunderland, are struggling but Regis Le Bris’s team are flying high, just five points behind second-placed City.

The Black Cats were close to a first win at Anfield in 42 years on Wednesday but had to settle for a 1-1 draw after Nordi Mukiele’s unfortunate own goal.

Only Arsenal and Crystal Palace have conceded fewer than Sunderland’s tally of 14 goals in the Premier League, though the Black Cats face a tough challenge against Pep Guardiola’s free-scoring City.

Below are the Premier League matches scheduled for the weekend:

Saturday

Aston Villa v Arsenal

Bournemouth v Chelsea

Everton v Nottingham Forest

Manchester City v Sunderland

Newcastle v Burnley

Tottenham v Brentford

Leeds v Liverpool

Sunday

Brighton v West Ham

Fulham v Crystal Palace

Monday

Wolves v Manchester United

The Star

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