EPL: Aston Villa v Arsenal

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Fabregas out but Clichy and Hleb have travelled to Villa

Gael Clichy and Alex Hleb face late fitness tests ahead of the game at Aston Villa on Saturday but Cesc Fabregas is now definitely out.

The Spaniard injured his hamstring at Sevilla on Tuesday and was rated as highly doubtful by Arsène Wenger at his press conference on Thursday. He failed a fitness test on Friday morning.

Clichy (thigh) and Hleb (hamstring) have travelled to Birmingham ahead of the game but the manager will make a late call on both.

Meanwhile Robin van Persie (knee) and Abou Diaby (back) are injured. Mathieu Flamini returns after being kept out of the midweek defeat in Spain with a thigh injury. Emmanuel Adebayor and William Gallas are back after being rested against Sevilla.

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*Aston Villa v Arsenal preview*

Two in-form sides meet at Villa Park on Saturday evening as Aston Villa host leaders Arsenal.

Martin O'Neill's side have won their last four Premier League outings, including a 4-0 midweek win at Blackburn, while The Gunners are yet to suffer defeat in the league this season.

History is against Villa, with the Midlands outfit going 17 league outings without success against Arsenal, a run spanning nearly nine years.

Villa's last league win against the North Londoners came back in December 1998 when Dion Dublin netted twice in an unlikely 3-2 success after trailing 2-0 at half-time.

However, Arsenal travel to Villa Park on the back of a rare loss after slumping to a 3-1 defeat to Sevilla on Tuesday despite taking the lead through Eduardo da Silva.

Striker doubt

O'Neill has a near fully-fit squad to choose from with only star striker Gabriel Agbonlahor a doubt to feature.

The England Under 21 ace limped out of Villa's thumping win over 10-man Blackburn on 85 minutes with a gashed ankle.

Should Villa's six-goal leading scorer miss out then Marlon Harewood, who scored off the bench against Rovers, may be given the nod.

Key midfielder Cesc Fabregas is a major doubt for Arsenal having limped out of the loss at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan with a hamstring injury.

While Cesc is touch-and-go to feature at Villa Park, manager Arsene Wenger is hopeful of having Gael Clichy (thigh) and Alexander Hleb (hamstring) at his disposal.

Backline

Wenger is likely to change his backline with William Gallas, Bacary Sagna and Clichy coming in for Philippe Senderos, Justin Hoyte and Armand Traore.

Emmanuel Adebayor will return in attack, although it remains to be seen whether he will be part of a 4-5-1 formation with Hleb or Tomas Rosicky for support, or in a 4-4-2 alongside Nicolas Bendtner or Eduardo.

French midfielder Mathieu Flamini (thigh) is available after missing out against Sevilla but star striker Robin van Persie (knee) is still a few weeks from returning to fitness.

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Aston Villa will be without suspended midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker.

But leading scorer Gabriel Agbonlahor (gashed foot) and midfielder Stiliyan Petrov (ankle) should be fit as the hosts aim for a fifth straight win.

Cesc Fabregas (hamstring) is set to miss out for Arsenal but Mathieu Flamini (thigh) is back in contention.

William Gallas and Emmanuel Adebayor should return after being rested in midweek, while Gael Clichy (thigh) and Alexander Hleb (hamstring) face tests.

Aston Villa (from): Carson, Taylor, Sorensen, Mellberg, Laursen, Knight, Davies, Bouma, Gardner, Petrov, Osbourne, Barry, Young, Agbonlahor, Carew, Moore, O'Halloran, Salifou.

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Clichy, Toure, Gallas, Sagna, Hleb, Flamini, Fabregas, Rosicky, Eduardo, Adebayor, Lehmann, Diarra, Song, Senderos, Traore, Eboue, Gilberto, Denilson, Walcott, Bendtner, Hoyte.

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Diarra starts ahead of Gilberto! Surprised

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Villa scores ... Neutral No one watching ?

HyuugaNeji SG

not bad la…1-1 liao…flamini

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my apologies for late live commentary

Agbonlahor was fouled by adebayor

yellow card to adebayor.

aston villa corner nw.

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flamini LONG SHOT juz wide!

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Arsenal 2-1

ADEBAYOR!

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2-1 !!! Bayor !!! Mr. Green

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'
ah dek ba wo.

Laughing

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Dun laugh ... He's good today

Mad Laughing

corebooster SG

hes good always Laughing

2 mins injury time.

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Half Time

Aston 1-2 Arsenal
Gardner,Flamini, Adebayor

felirox SG

nice job arsenal. keep it up. more goals!! diarra was excellent today. so too was flamster!

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Flamster is on FLAME!

Mr. Green

Nadare SG

Very Happy

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Start ler!

Lets Go Gunners!

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Corner for Aston Villa.

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mistake cleared by toure.

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