Aston Villa vs. Arsenal: Mikel Arteta needs one "crucial" player back from injury for Premier League showdown

Arsenal's chances of victory against Aston Villa in Saturday's lunchtime Premier League kickoff will be significantly boosted if one "crucial" player is available to start, according to Gunners expert Charles Watts.

Mikel Arteta's men head to the West Midlands for a tantalising third vs. first battle at 12.30pm tomorrow, and the Arsenal manager was customarily coy when giving a team news update in his pre-game press conference.

The Spaniard did not say definitively whether Leandro Trossard (muscle), William Saliba (knock), Declan Rice (calf) or Cristhian Mosquera (ankle) would be fit for the trip to Villa Park - the latter two sustained issues in Wednesday's 2-0 victory over Brentford.

Trossard and Saliba both need a "matter of days" to recover from their concerns, but Watts believes that the latter returning this weekend would be "crucial".

“It’s a tough game," Watts told Sports Mole. "I was surprised – I looked at league table and Villa are only six points behind Arsenal. Considering the start to the season they've had, they've been on a really good run.

“The thing with Villa, when you look at their XG and the XG difference that they've got, they seem to be overperforming. Against Wolves, that could have been very, very different - the goal that was ruled out, the amazing Martinez save to keep it at 0-0, and then Villa a worldie.

Aston Villa vs. Arsenal: William Saliba return "crucial" for Mikel Arteta

“That's not the first time they've done something like that this season. Things seem to be going Villa's way, and they're making the most of that. But I'm not sure they're as dangerous as the league table and the form guide suggests, which is probably me putting the kiss of death on it!

“But it's always a difficult game, going to Villa Park. It's one of those grounds that you just want to get out of, because it can go wrong pretty quickly when the crowd get up. And it's always got the Unai Emery narrative, so Arsenal are going to have to be good, really good.

“They rode their luck last season - David Raya made a couple of fantastic saves, they got two relatively late goals. They'll probably have to ride their luck again. Saliba being back would be really crucial for that game."

Whichever defence Arteta puts out at Villa Park may have to handle former Arsenal attacker Donyell Malen, who scored his fourth Premier League goal of the season in the Lions' thrilling 4-3 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday night.

The Dutchman now boasts seven goals and one assist from 20 matches during a bright start to the campaign for Villa, who are reaping some of the rewards of Arsenal's work with Malen as a youth-team player.

Aston Villa vs. Arsenal: Could Donyell Malen have made it big for Gunners?

The 26-year-old enjoyed two productive years at Hale End from 2015 to 2017, but he then returned to his homeland with PSV Eindhoven before moving on to Borussia Dortmund, becoming a Champions League finalist in the yellow kit.

Ahead of Malen's Arsenal reunion, Watts opened up on the "surprise" among the Gunners crowd when the attacker left, although he stopped short of labelling the Villa attacker in the Serge Gnabry category of players that got away.

“It's tough to say if he would have been able to break through," Watts added. "I remember when he left, there was surprise. He was doing OK in the youth setup. No-one was really expecting this from outside the club anyway, because he was doing pretty well, Arsenal had had fought pretty hard to get him.

“It's good to see him go on and do pretty well. It's been a slow burn at Aston Villa, but he's scoring some goals - a few in the Europa League - but I don't really look at him as one that got away. Serge Gnabry is at the top of that list.”

Malen left Arsenal without making a single senior appearance for the club, and the Netherlands international could now take Villa to within just three points of the Gunners in the Premier League table with victory this weekend.