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Arsene Wenger opts to start Gabriel Paulista on the bench while Alexis Sanchez misses out through injury.
Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott both keep their places in the Arsenal side that won 3-2 away at Brighton.
David Ospina starts in goal ahead of Wojciech Szczesny, who is still out of favour in Wenger's Premier League selection.
Gabriel Agbonlahor will lead the line for Aston Villa.
TEAMS IN FULL
Arsenal starting XI: Ospina; Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Ramsey, Walcott, Cazorla; Ozil; Giroud
Substitutes: Szczesny, Gibbs, Gabriel, Chambers, Flamini, Rosicky, Akpom
Aston Villa starting XI: Guzan; Hutton, Okore, Clark, Richardson; Sanchez, Delph, Cleverley, Weimann, Gil, Benteke
Substitutes: Given, Baker, Bacuna, Sinclair, Agbonlahor, Westwood, Cissokho
Speaking before today's game, Wenger said his side, who are 14 points short of Chelsea, could still make a good go of catching Manchester City and the Blues.
He said: "It (to challenge for the title) is our target, but we have to be realistic. What we want is to win every game we can, but at the moment we are 14 points behind Chelsea, they need to lose five games, and they have lost only two until now.
"What we want to do is focus on our performances and show that we can produce consistent results. After, where we will finish, it is difficult to say."
Wenger added: "Yes, it is true that I have some real selection dilemmas.
"We have got three players out (on loan) - (Yaya) Sanogo, (Lukas) Podolski and (Joel) Campbell - so you imagine before the number of offensive players we have.
"Now we have a good squad, compact, but of quality and with the competition it will be very hard."
