Head-to-Head: Rudy Gestede (Aston Villa) vs Olivier Giroud (Arsenal)

Manager Remi Garde will pit his rock-bottom Aston Villa outfit up against his former boss Arsene Wenger on Sunday (13:30) as he visits Villa Park with his in-form Arsenal squad.

The former France international defender; who made 31 appearances for the Gunners between 1996 and 1999, faces his ex-Premier League club this weekend still searching for his first win in charge of the Villans as they lie seven points adrift of safety at the opposite end of the table.

Meanwhile the visitors, who eventually cruised into the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League in midweek, sit just two points behind surprise league leaders Leicester City after last weekend’s 3-1 victory over fellow strugglers Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium.

Boss Garde will have his fingers crossed that Villa’s joint-top goalscorer Rudy Gestede (3) can net his first league goal since September; whilst Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud will be looking to find the back of the net for the third successive game running having scored against the Black Cats, before following up that strike with a marvellous hat-trick in Greece against Olympiakos on Wednesday night.

With both hitman set to come face-to-face on Sunday afternoon, here’s how both Gestede and Giroud match up so far this term…