Douglas Luiz fires Aston Villa warning at Man City and Arsenal ahead of Premier League fixtures

Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz has set a target of beating both Manchester City and Arsenal this week ahead of the Blues' visit to Villa Park on Wednesday evening.

Villa, who drew 2-2 with Bournemouth on Sunday, are currently fourth in the Premier League table, just one point behind third-placed City and four points behind leaders Arsenal. Unai Emery's side have enjoyed a fantastic start to the campaign, winning nine of their first 14 league games.

Emery's troops' strong start to the season has been built on a fabulous home record, which has seen them win each of their opening six league games on their own patch. Villa, in fact, have won each of their last 13 league outings at Villa Park, last failing to win at home when they lost 4-2 to Arsenal, who will visit B6 on Saturday, back in February.

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Firmly in the shake-up for a top-four finish this season, Luiz, who spent two years on City's books without making a single appearance, is confident he and his teammates can derail Arsenal's and City's title aspirations. Pep Guardiola's side will make the trip to the Midlands determined to halt a three-game winless run in the league.

"It's the most difficult game you can play in the league," said Luiz, as quoted by the Birmingham Mail. "We need to train hard and try to keep what we are doing at home. We can win.

"We are so confident at home and we believe we can win. We need to keep this at home, where we are so strong. We need to train hard because the week is so difficult. But we can win.

"We are so excited for these two games. They are important for