Arsenal face Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime with the Gunners looking for a positive result after their midweek defeat to Liverpool at the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta will be hoping his side can extend their gap to Manchester United by another three points this weekend after winning five of their last six games, cementing their place in the top four ahead of the international break. Arteta complained about Arsenal's fixture congestion after the 2-0 loss to Liverpool on Wednesday night, and the Spaniard admitted he is concerned about when the North London Derby could be rearranged for, with Tottenham also in the hunt for a top-four spot.
We used FIFA 22 to get a score prediction for Aston Villa v Arsenal on Saturday and this is what happened...
READ MORE: Arsenal predicted XI vs Aston Villa as Gabriel Martinelli starts but Takehiro Tomiyasu out
Aston Villa vs Arsenal score predicted by simulation
We used kick-off mode in FIFA 22, but didn't select a team to control, letting the AI control both teams. We then selected the teams and watched the match play out by itself, to give us a unique score prediction.
We predict that Arsenal could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Ramsdale; Soares, White, Gabriel, Tierney; Xhaka, Partey; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Lacazette.
We predict that Aston Villa could set up in a 4-3-1-2 formation, with their line-up as follows: Martinez; Cash, Chambers, Mings, Young; McGinn, Luiz, Ramsey; Coutinho; Watkins, Ings.
Both teams had chances to open the scoring in the opening 10 minutes, with both Martinez and Ramsdale producing some brilliant stops to deny Watkins and Martinelli at either of the end pitch.
Arsenal began to control the game after a frantic opening 20 minutes and this led to the opening goal. Martinelli arrived at the back post to meet Saka's cross and the Brazilian fired the ball into the back of the net to put the away side 1-0 up.
Thomas Partey played the ball in behind Ashley Young for Saka to run on to and deliver the ball across the penalty box towards the back post for the Brazilian to latch onto and volley towards goal. Martinez got a hand to the shot but the power took the ball into the back of the net, giving Arsenal an early advantage at Villa Park.
Martinelli was able to double the Gunners' lead on the stroke of half-time as he broke away on the counter-attack, getting past Calum Chambers with his pace before firing a shot across goal into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.
Arsenal continued to dominate the game in the second half as Arteta rotated his side bringing Emile Smith Rowe and Nicolas Pepe on for Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka. Philippe Coutinho set up a nervous final five minutes for the Gunners after pull a goal back late on with a fine finish after some nice footwork in the penalty box.
Coutinho was able to find some space on the edge of the Arsenal penalty box, with Partey losing track of the Brazilian who was previously linked with Arsenal, before Coutinho fired the ball past Ramsdale into the bottom left corner.
But Arteta's side were able to hold on and take all three points from Villa Park, extending their gap to Man United to four points and cementing their place inside the top four heading into the international break.
FIFA 22 predicted final score: Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 22 predicts that Arsenal could control the majority of the game and dominate possession, with Martinelli able to produce moments of class. But the simulation predicts that the Gunners' defence may not be able to hold on to a clean sheet as a lapse in concentration allowed Coutinho to find some space and pull one goal back to set up a nervy final few minutes.
What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments!
