TITLE CHASING Arsenal and Aston Villa will both be looking to bounce back from disappointing results when they meet at Highbury today.
Arsenal were held to a disappointing 0-0 draw with Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on St Stephen's Day while Aston Villa's run of five successive league wins came to a halt when they were beaten 2-0 at home by Chelsea.
Despite those scorelines, both teams believe they can still win the title in the most open English league championship race for years.
And if Arsenal win by 2-0 or more today they will go back on top of the table - at least until tomorrow when current leaders Liverpool play at Southampton.
Arsenal are now second, three points behind Liverpool, and boast the only unbeaten home record in the Premiership.
Villa beat Wimbledon 5-0 last Sunday to move into fourth place but slipped back to fifth after losing to Chelsea.
Villa go to Highbury six points behind Liverpool but will go level on points with Arsenal if they win today.
Manager Brian Little could be without Yugoslav striker Savo Milosevic (virus) and mid fielders Mark Draper (groin) and Ian Taylor (knee).
Little has not had a victory with Villa over Arsenal since he took charge more than two years ago. When they had them on the ropes in their earlier meeting this season, late goals from Paul Merson and Andy Linighan made it 2-2 and rescued a point.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's main problem will be to replace midfielder David Platt, who is out with a hamstring injury. His second half replacement against Wednesday, Paul Shaw, should take his place.
First choice goalkeeper David Seaman is near to full fitness after breaking three ribs against Manchester United in November but John Lukic is expected to continue to deputise for him while Lee Dixon has still not recovered from an ankle injury.
Arsenal's squad may be older than most of their rivals - all four regular defenders and Seaman are over 30 - but the vast experience of players such as Tony Adams, Platt, Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright is paying dividends in pressure situations.
Arsenal tend to grind out draws from matches that other teams would lose and they snatch victories from games that look like ending level.
They did it against Aston Villa earlier in the season when they pulled back from 2-0 down to 2-2 with late goals. They did it against arch-rivals Tottenham to win 3-1 last month with two goals in the last two minutes and they ground out a 2-1 victory at Newcastle despite playing for 70 minutes with only 10 men after Adams was sent off.
Wenger has given Arsenal a new attacking dimension to their play and Wright has hit 21 goals already this season.
Yet Arsenal have a healthy respect for Villa's attack. "In Dwight Yorke they have one of the best strikers in the Premier league," Wright said.
"When he and (Savo) Milosevic are both playing well they are a potent force."
The downside for Arsenal is the temperament of some of their players. They are currently bottom in the unofficial fair play league having picked up 41 bookings and two red cards this season.
Wright, who was sent off against Nottingham Forest last Saturday, could miss five matches in January if he is booked again during the busy holiday programme.
