Another reunion between Arsenal's two most recent managers takes place in the West Midlands on Saturday evening, when the Gunners make the trip to face Unai Emery's Aston Villa.
Both Champions League competitors got off to winning starts in the 2024-25 Premier League season last weekend, as Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka picked the Wolverhampton Wanderers lock in a 2-0 win for Mikel Arteta's men.
Meanwhile, the Lions left it late to sink West Ham United 2-1 at the London Stadium, where Jhon Duran - a former Hammers transfer target - conjured up the winning moment.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.
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Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 203
Aston Villa wins: 71
Draws: 45
Arsenal wins: 87
First locking horns in a competitive setting 120 years ago - when Arsenal were prefixed by Woolwich - the two outfits have now clashed a total of 203 times, and the Gunners only just edge the wins counter with 87 successes compared to Villa's 71.
However, two of those triumphs for the West Midlands side came in the 2023-24 campaign, when they were the only team to do the double over the North London giants, earning Emery two slices of revenge against the club that sacked him in 2019.
The Lions firstly prevailed 1-0 on home soil courtesy of a John McGinn effort, before silencing the Emirates around Easter time through Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins, hammering the final nail into Arsenal's title coffin in the process.
Courtesy of their pair of successes in 2023-24, Aston Villa have now succeeded in five of their last nine Premier League matches with Arsenal and have already strung together a three-match winning sequence over the Gunners in this decade, prevailing in July 2020, November 2020 and February 2021 during the COVID-19 era.
Those three successes and the 2023-24 double come either side of a four-match winning sequence for Arsenal, though, including an unforgettable 4-2 triumph at Villa Park in February 2023, where ex-Gunners goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez scored one of the most unfortunate own goals the Premier League has seen.
Martinez's inadvertent header that day preceded the Argentine coming up for a corner and leaving his goal exposed for Gabriel Martinelli to tap into, as the Brazilian assured Arsenal of their 14th Premier League win at Villa Park, leaving them just one success away from a club record.
Indeed, should Arsenal prevail in Saturday's battle, they would have won more matches at Villa Park than any other away ground in the Premier League; their 14 victories at the stadium is their joint-most alongside Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park.
When it comes to notable Emirates meetings, Aston Villa had the honour of being Arsenal's first Premier League opponents at their current stadium in 2006, when they were on the verge of spoiling the North London party before Gilberto Silva's late equaliser in a 1-1 draw.
The Gunners are also just two goals away from reaching the 100-mark against Villa in the Premier League, although their efforts may not be helped by a Havertz hoodoo - the German has failed to score or assist in seven top-flight matches against the Lions, his worst record against a single English team.
Scoring goals against Villa was not an issue for all-time Arsenal top scorer Thierry Henry, who leads the individual charts in this fixture with 12, followed by more ex-Gunners strikers in Olivier Giroud (eight), Tony Woodcock (seven) and Ian Wright (seven).
Last 20 meetings
Apr 14, 2024: Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa (Premier League)
Dec 09, 2023: Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Feb 18, 2023: Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal (Premier League)
Aug 31, 2022: Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa (Premier League)
Mar 19, 2022: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal (Premier League)
Oct 22, 2021: Arsenal 3-1 Aston Villa (Premier League)
Feb 06, 2021: Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Nov 08, 2020: Arsenal 0-3 Aston Villa (Premier League)
Jul 21, 2020: Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Sep 22, 2019: Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa (Premier League)
May 15, 2016: Arsenal 4-0 Aston Villa (Premier League)
Dec 13, 2015: Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal (Premier League)
May 30, 2015: Arsenal 4-0 Aston Villa (FA Cup Final)
Feb 01, 2015: Arsenal 5-0 Aston Villa (Premier League)
Sep 20, 2014: Aston Villa 0-3 Arsenal (Premier League)
Jan 13, 2014: Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal (Premier League)
Aug 17, 2013: Arsenal 1-3 Aston Villa (Premier League)
Feb 23, 2013: Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa (Premier League)
Nov 24, 2012: Aston Villa 0-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Mar 24, 2012: Arsenal 3-0 Aston Villa (Premier League)
Last 10 Premier League meetings
Apr 14, 2024: Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa (Premier League)
Dec 09, 2023: Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Feb 18, 2023: Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal (Premier League)
Aug 31, 2022: Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa (Premier League)
Mar 19, 2022: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal (Premier League)
Oct 22, 2021: Arsenal 3-1 Aston Villa (Premier League)
Feb 06, 2021: Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Nov 08, 2020: Arsenal 0-3 Aston Villa (Premier League)
Jul 21, 2020: Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Sep 22, 2019: Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa (Premier League)
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