I have not been able to write that it has been seven days since Aston Villa were last in action too many times this season. Following six games in eighteen days, Dean Smith’s side were finally able to have a bit of a breather before the visit down south to take on Brighton & Hove Albion.
Villa head down south looking for a bit of consistency after their form hit a bit of a rocky road of late, winning three and losing three of their previous six. They come up against a Brighton side who are third in the Premier League form table having picked up eleven points from a possible fifteen.
Brighton have always felt like a bogey side for me. They play some good football but always seem to come out on top. Well, at least I thought. Since 2010, the Seagulls have only beat us once and that came earlier in the season when many believed they had some help from VAR. Villa have won three of those, drawing the other three meetings.
Similar to Villa, Brighton have picked up more points on the road this season. 16 of their 25 have come on the road. Villa’s home form has improved of late but they still have 19 of their 35 away from Villa Park.
Graham Potters men don’t lose too many at home (4), but they don’t win many either with their only win coming against Tottenham in January.
TEAM NEWS
Aston Villa have a fully complete squad after coming through the 1-0 victory over Arsenal last weekend with no fresh injuries.
Smith will have to make a decision over Marvelous Nakamba and Douglas Luiz. The latter was dropped following the defeat to West Ham and Nakamba impressed last weekend.
Slightly better news on Wesley. The forward has had some manipulation on his knee, which usually helps restore movement for the knee. He is expected to return to the training pitches on Monday.
Brighton are expected to welcome back Davy Propper who has trained all week with the first team. Adam Webster will face a late fitness test and being forced off last weekend in the draw against Burnley.
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Darren England.
Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis, Peter Kirkup. Fourth official: Graham Scott. VAR: Martin Atkinson. Assistant VAR: Darren Cann.
DID YOU KNOW
Jack Grealish has been involved with five goals (assisted or scored) in his last five games against Brighton.
A win today would see Villa pick up their twelve win of the Premier League season. The last time they won as many games in the same competition was in 2010/11.
Brighton’s last three home wins have come in three different years (December 2019, June 2020 and January 2021).
HOW TO FOLLOW
I CANNOT WATCH LIVE
Join fellow Villa supporters by discussing tonight’s game on our forum in our live match chat.
ON TV
Brighton & Hove Albion v Aston Villa will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports.
PREDICTION
I feel that we owe Brighton one over the defeat earlier in the campaign. Although we wasnt great on the day, I felt we did enough to at least come away with a share of the points.
I am hopeful that the seven day break from playing would have been a welcome break and enabled the lads to recharge both their batteries and hunger for the remainder of the campaign.
Brighton 1-2 Aston Villa
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