Premier League: Aston Villa vs Arsenal Odds and Betting Preview

BIRMINGHAM, UK - Arsene Wenger takes his Arsenal side to the midlands this Wednesday to face Alex McLeish's Aston Villa in an attempt to bounce back from their defeat to the hands of Manchester City at the weekend. Arsenal are clear favourites for the game, priced best at 4/5 (bet £5 to win £4) with Coral and Paddy Power to get all three points from the game. Aston Villa are 4/1 outsiders to win the game with a number of firms, such as Betfred, Bodog and Bet365 while you can back the draw at 11/4, a top price only with Stan James.

While picking up points on the road, Villa have lost three of their last four games at home - the sort of inconsistency which has not allowed them to currently lie above 10th position. Two of those three recent home defeats have been against sides in the top 6 - Liverpool and Manchester United, defeats of 0-2 and 0-1 respectively, so punters may want to look at Arsenal to win to nil, which is best with Sky Bet at 9/4.

However, Arsenal don't have a particularly strong defensive record compared to United and Liverpool, and on Sunday injuries to all their recognised full-backs meant they had to field a back four of all centre-backs against City. Games in which Arsenal have been away from home have seen, on average, the most goals per game, with an incredible 4.5. Over 2.5 goals on Wednesday is 4/5 with Bet365 and Boylesports while you can back over 3.5 goals in the game at 2/1 with Betfred and Bodog.

Robin Van Persie is an obvious pick to open the scoring, given he is the league's top goalscorer with 15 goals, and the Dutchman is 7/2 with most firms, such as William Hill and Ladbrokes to open the scoring, while he is best at a mere 6/5 with Coral only to score anytime in the game. A better bet might be Thomas Vermaelen to open the scoring at 20/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral. The Belgian defender has a knack of turning up at the other end of the pitch, and went close twice to beating Joe Hart on Sunday. Theo Walcott is 9/1 with Betfred to score first while Gervinho is 8/1 with Ladbrokes.

Aston Villa were missing Gabriel Agbonlahor and Darren Bent on Sunday while meant McLeish opted for Nathan Delfouneso and Emile Heskey up front, who are both 11/1 to score first with Paddy Power. In both their recent home games against big teams, Aston Villa have gone behind before the 20 minute mark, and Arsenal to be leading at both half-time and full-time is best on Betfair at 9/4.

The match kicks off at 19:45 GMT.

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To Win To Nil Odds
Over/Under 2.5 Goals Odds
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