Arsenal vs. Aston Villa: Charles Watts drops positive injury hint as Gabriel Magalhaes prediction made

Arsenal may be able to welcome back one of their injured defensive contingent for Tuesday's high-profile Premier League clash with Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium, Charles Watts has exclusively told Sports Mole.

The Gunners swiftly reunite with Unai Emery's side a few weeks on from their excruciating 2-1 loss to the Lions at Villa Park, and defeat to the Lions tonight would see the West Midlands team go level on points with Arsenal in the Premier League table.

The visitors will be lamenting the absences of Boubacar Kamara and Matty Cash through suspension, but Arsenal have a plethora of fitness concerns of their own in Max Dowman, Cristhian Mosquera, Ben White, Kai Havertz, Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber.

The latter two were unexpected absentees from the 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend, but Watts believes that one of Timber or Calafiori could have a chance of coming back against Villa, while also predicting Gabriel Magalhaes to come back into the XI.

“Unai's got some decisions to make, but Arsenal are going to be missing some players as well. You've just got to deal with it," the Gunners expert said. "When you look at the two teams and how they're going to set up compared to a couple of weeks ago, Arsenal are going to have Gabriel and Saliba back.

"It did get a bit chaotic at Villa Park, and you would think with those two there, that’s not going to be as apparent. The game might not be as stretched.

Charles Watts drops positive Arsenal injury hint for Aston Villa clash

“We'll wait and see what happens at full-back, whether at least one of Timber and Calafiori will be back available for this game – I think one might be. But you would hope that the return of Gabriel and Saliba will give them a little bit more stability.”

White, Timber, Hincapie and Calafiori started at the back during Arsenal's painful defeat to Villa on December 6, when Saliba and Gabriel watched on helplessly due to their injuries, but the latter returned from his hamstring problem off the bench at the weekend.

Shortly after Arsenal's success against Brighton, Villa prolonged their magnificent winning run in a 2-1 comeback victory over Chelsea, thanks to a brace from super sub Ollie Watkins in the second half at Stamford Bridge.

Emery's side have now cemented themselves as genuine title challengers on the back of their 11th straight victory, matching a club record set back in 1897 and 1914, and the Lions have also prevailed in three of their last five games with the Gunners.

Mikel Arteta's side failed to beat Villa at the Emirates in 2023-24 or 2024-25, and Watts has also warned of a particularly "powerful weapon" that the visitors will possess in North London.

Arsenal vs. Aston Villa: Mikel Arteta warned of "powerful" Emery weapon

“If Arsenal win, it could halt the momentum Aston Villa have got behind them and really push Arsenal on going into 2026," Watts added. "It'd be a massive win against a title rival. You can't say they're not.

"There's a long way to go, but if Arsenal and Man City are in the title race, then Aston Villa surely have to be. It's a massive game for both teams.

“It's really tough to predict how it's going to go because this Villa side, you can't really predict how their matches are going to go. They're so chaotic and they somehow come out on the right end every single time. Even with 20 minutes to go, it's going to be an impossible one to call, unless Arsenal are four or five goals up!

“It's going to be another knife-edge game for Arsenal - they're going to play against a team bang in form. You saw the celebrations after Chelsea - there's belief flowing right through them now. We know how powerful a weapon that can be. And they've got a good record at the Emirates, so it's going to be an incredibly tough game.”

Arsenal were reported to have received an additional two injury boosts before the mouthwatering meeting with Aston Villa, in which Eberechi Eze could be the Gunners' secret weapon.

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