U18s preview: Aston Villa v Arsenal

Our young Gunners aim to bounce back from their midweek defeat when they take on Aston Villa in the U18 Premier League South on Saturday.

The match will take place at Bodymoor Heath Training Ground, with kick-off scheduled for 12pm (UK time).

After last weekend's delight over Birmingham City, Tuesday's north London derby brought disappointment, as Emerson Nwaneri could only find a late consolation in a 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. The result leaves us in 11th place with 18 points.

THE OPPOSITION

The Villans made a strong start to their league campaign by winning seven of their 11 matches before the winter break, but have only won once domestically since the turn of the year. That victory came last weekend in a 2-1 triumph over Chelsea, and moved them up to 6th in the table with 25 points.

The West Midlands outfit are also through to the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup, a competition which they won last season, where they'll face Wrexham in a bid to continue their defence of the trophy.

Elsewhere, having advanced through the U18 Premier League Cup group stage with a perfect record, the Birmingham-based side were halted by West Ham United in the quarter-finals, losing 5-4 on penalties following a 1-1 stalemate after extra-time.

We last faced Villa at the Sobha Realty Training Centre earlier this campaign, when goals from Marley Frohock and Ceadach O'Neill proved little more than a reduction to the deficit in a 6-2 November defeat.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Kick-off is at 12pm (UK time). Live updates will be available on our academy's official X account, with a full match report on Arsenal.com shortly after the final whistle.

Post-match, supporters can catch interviews alongside highlights of all the key action.