Aston Villa and Arsenal will be preparing for a monster Premier League showdown on Saturday evening at Villa Park.
Unai Emery did the double over his former side last season – winning 1-0 at home and 2-0 at the Emirates.
Thierry Henry felt Villa cost Arsenal the Premier League title because they were the only team to do the double over the runners-up.
It also played a huge part in Aston Villa securing Champions League football and Emery proving his worth on the Premier League stage.
But now, the Gunners are going to be out for revenge and Aston Villa need to be on their guard because this could prove to be very tough.
One thing is for sure, both sides head into this fixture with confidence high and on the back of opening-day wins in the Premier League.
Arsenal beat Wolves 2-0, with Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz getting on the scoresheet for Mikel Arteta’s side.
On the other hand, Amadou Onana scored on debut during Villa’s win at West Ham United and then proceeded to win Man of the Match.
Aston Villa’s backline for that match was Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne, but it’s time for Emery to make a change already.
Cash was subbed off late in the second half for Kosta Nedeljkovic and now it’s time for a surprise change ahead of that Arsenal fixture.
Diego Carlos to start against Arsenal
The future of Diego Carlos remains in the balance at Villa, as some would suggest it isn’t worth risking him if he could leave before next Friday’s deadline.
But Emery should forget all about that, push Konsa to right-back and start the hard-hitting defender at the heart of the defence.
Carlos was brilliant against Arsenal last season, he won Man of the Match during both fixtures and clearly likes to play against the London club.
That’s another reason for the Brazilian to start, with Konsa-Carlos-Torres-Digne – all starting the wins over Arsenal last season.
Kosta Nedeljkovic is another option to start
Nedeljkovic was Villa’s best player in pre-season, despite the team suffering four defeats and looking pretty abject for large parts.
The 18-year-old was the one who replaced Cash when he went off injured against the Hammers, so he could be another option to start at right-back.
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But Emery could return to familiarity, even if Carlos didn’t play much in pre-season, and is tipped to leave and fans would be surprised to see him in the XI.
