Malen could make his debut against Arsenal following his move from Borussia Dortmund

Unai Emery says Donyell Malen is available to make his Aston Villa debut against Arsenal.

Malen sealed a move to Villa Park for a reported £21m earlier this week and has been training with his new team-mates this week.

The versatile Dutch striker, who can operate in all three positions behind the striker, gives Emery’s men an extra attacking boost as they continue to challenge in the Premier League and Champions League.

Emery said: “He usually plays as a number seven and sometimes as a number 11 on the left, while he can also play as a number ten.”

“In the attacking third he is always close to getting into the opposition penalty area to score goals and get assists. We need a player like him who tries to threaten the opponent in the background.”

Villa turns the corner

Villa ended a run of five consecutive away defeats with a 1-0 win over Everton on Wednesday thanks to Ollie Watkins’ winner at Goodison Park, while they have also started the year with three straight wins.

Emery added: “We can feel a bit of confidence after our win at Everton, but tomorrow the challenge is to be competitive. “Our competitiveness can get us close to a good result.

“Arsenal will be very, very difficult tomorrow. Every game we face is very, very difficult – including Everton.

“We are preparing the game, we are very motivated and we will try to play improving the things we did at Everton and improving the things we did away from home in the last few games against top teams in the Premier League have.”

“Tomorrow we play against one of the candidates and favorites to win the Premier League.”

Unai Emery: “We can feel a bit of confidence after our win at Everton, but the challenge tomorrow is again to try to be competitive. If we are competitive, we can be close to getting a good result.” pic.twitter.com/uwdGUgXMWv

– Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 17, 2025

Emirates returns

Emery returns to the Emirates on Saturday for the first time since the former Arsenal manager’s side ended the Gunners’ title hopes with a 2-0 win in April last year.

“These are different circumstances (compared to Villa’s win against Arsenal last season). This moment was a very special circumstance for them and for us because they were heavily involved in the Champions League against Bayern Munich and we were also in the Conference League.

“At that moment we held up very well and won in 90 minutes, but it was very difficult. This year the circumstances are different. There are not many things that are similar to last year, it will be different and we have to try to keep up with the idea we have.

“We have to build the team the way we do and try to build confidence and good feelings. The individual players have to have confidence and that is the game we have tomorrow.”