Steven Gerrard says Arsenal clash is a chance for Villa to prove themselves

Arsenal saw their run of five straight victories come to an end on Wednesday evening when they were defeated 2-0 by Liverpool at the Emirates.

Meanwhile, Villa were defeated 2-1 by West Ham last Sunday, a result that ended their own run of three consecutive victories.

Villa currently sit in ninth place in the Premier League, 10 points behind Wolves in eighth.

This is partly due to their poor record against sides in the top eight, with Villa having only taken four points from 11 games between them.

Speaking ahead of the Arsenal game, Gerrard said, "The teams at the top are there for a reason.

"It’s about consistency, they’ve recruited well, they’ve got experience and some have got managers who have been with them for some time.

"There’s a reality to where we’re at at the moment but that’s the area of the league we need to strive for, it’s where we want to be operating of course.

"I’m very much aware of the stats and those results but tomorrow gives us another opportunity to try to prove that when we’re at our best we can take points off the top teams and the teams that are above us." 

Philippe Coutinho, Lucas Digne and Calum Chambers were all brought into the club in the January transfer window, and this is one of the reasons why the threat of relegation has since receded.

Digne will miss the Arsenal game due to a hamstring problem, while the next challenge for Villa is to try and secure Coutinho permanently as he is currently on loan from Barcelona.

Developing players like Jacob Ramsey is also seen as a priority, with Gerrard saying, "We need to work with what we’ve got and keep trying to improve them, pushing them, challenging and provoking them to be better.

"In the last window we tried to recruit in a positive way to move forward and evolve and I think we did that very well, and I think it’s no secret we’ve got eyes on trying to move the group forward again when the possibility is there.

"But the priority is always the players you’ve got. We’ve got belief as a staff we can improve this group on a daily basis to close the gap that’s obviously there in terms of league positions."