Preview: Aston Villa vs Brighton & Hove Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion will both be looking to return to winning ways in the Premier League when they do battle at Villa Park on Wednesday night.

The two teams were involved in a seven-goal thriller in the reverse fixture just over two months ago, with Villa claiming a 4-3 victory at the Amex Stadium.

Match preview

Since enjoying an eight-game winning streak in the Premier League towards the end of last year, Aston Villa have only won two of their last seven top-flight matches (D3 L3), dropping points in their first two fixtures of February against Brentford and Bournemouth.

Unai Emery’s side suffered a slender 1-0 home defeat to the Bees before settling for a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth last weekend. Both results appear to have all but ended their slim hopes of catching Arsenal in the title race, with a top-five finish now the priority for the remainder of this season.

Villa sit third in the Premier League table and nine points behind the Gunners at the summit, while there is an eight-point gap to sixth-placed Liverpool. However, the Midlands club cannot rest on their laurels, as they are scheduled to face the Merseysiders, second-placed Man City, fourth-placed Man United and fifth-placed Chelsea before the season comes to a close.

Emery and co have lost their last two Premier League home games to Brentford and Everton, and they are now looking to avoid becoming the first English top-flight team in history to lose three consecutive home matches having won their previous eight (or more) beforehand – Villa have not lost three on the bounce at home since November 2020 under former boss Dean Smith.

Villa can at least take some comfort from the fact that they have won seven of their last nine Premier League encounters with Wednesday’s opponents Brighton (D1 L1) and they will attempt to complete the double over the Seagulls for the third time after doing so in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

After being denied maximum points by a 97th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 home draw with Everton, Brighton fell to their eighth Premier League defeat of the season last weekend at the hands of M23 rivals Crystal Palace, losing 1-0 at the Amex courtesy of Ismaila Sarr’s 61st-minute strike.

A number of Seagulls supporters voiced their disapproval of head coach Fabian Hurzeler by chanting “you’re getting sacked in the morning” at full time, with the German admitting after the match that his side “have problems” and “finding solutions” is at the forefront of his mind.

Brighton’s Premier League form has certainly taken a nosedive, as their only win in their last 12 matches (D6 L5) was a 2-0 success over Burnley on January 3. Since their first game in this period at the beginning of December, the Seagulls rank 18th in the division’s form table with just nine points.

Within the space of a couple of months, Brighton have slipped from fifth spot down to 14th in the table, 12 points behind Chelsea in fifth and eight points behind Brentford in seventh – a strong end to the season is therefore required if they wish to make a late push for the European positions.

Success on Wednesday is not a given, though, as Brighton have failed to win any of their last five Premier League away games (D3 L2), while they have only won one of their six top-flight away meetings with Aston Villa (D1 L4), conceding at least twice in each of the five matches they failed to win.

Aston Villa Premier League form:

Aston Villa form (all competitions):

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:

Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):

Team News

Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans (ankle), John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara (both knee) and Andres Garcia (thigh) all remain sidelined with injuries, while new recruit Alysson (knee) is also set to miss out despite returning to training last week.

Ollie Watkins has scored more goals (nine) and has more goal involvements (11) against Brighton than he does against any other Premier League opponent, and he will hope to fend off competition from January signing Tammy Abraham for another start up front. Morgan Rogers, meanwhile, has been involved in four goals in his last five home matches in all competitions (three goals, one assist) and he is expected to continue in an advanced central role.

Lucas Digne did not cover himself in glory against Bournemouth, so Ian Maatsen could replace the Frenchman at left-back. Pau Torres may also return in defence at the expense of Tyrone Mings, while Ezri Konsa and Matty Cash are both set to continue in the back four.

As for Brighton, Jan Paul van Hecke scored twice in the Seagulls’ 4-3 defeat to Villa two months ago, but he is ruled out of this week’s game with a thigh injury and is joined in the treatment room by Stefanos Tzimas, Adam Webster, Solly March (all knee), Mats Wieffer (ankle/foot) and Yasin Ayari (shoulder).

Olivier Boscagli is therefore set to continue alongside captain Lewis Dunk at centre-back, while Hurzeler will weigh up whether to stick with 17-year-old midfielder Harry Howell, who was surprisingly handed his full PL debut last time out, or recall either Jack Hinshelwood, Diego Gomez or Matt O’Reilly.

James Milner is also in contention to feature and the 40-year-old midfielder will equal Gareth Barry’s all-time Premier League appearance record of 653 games if he plays in some capacity against his former club Villa.

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen; Onana, Luiz; Sancho, Rogers, Buendia; Watkins

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:

Verbruggen; Kadioglu, Dunk, Boscagli, De Cuyper; Gomez, Baleba, Gross; Minteh, Welbeck, Mitoma

We say: Aston Villa 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion

An entertaining, end-to-end contest could be in store on Wednesday, given that six of the last seven meetings between Aston Villa and Brighton have seen three or more goals scored, with both teams netting in five of those.

Emery’s side have recently suffered a bit of a wobble on home soil, but they will still be regarded as favourites to come out on top here against an out-of-sorts Seagulls outfit who have struggled on the road and in recent visits to Villa Park.

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