Aston Villa vs Brighton & Hove Albion

Villa Park is the venue as Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion go head-to-head in a handsomely-looking Premier League encounter.

Aston Villa squeezed past 10-man Chelsea 1-0 last weekend, making it two Premier League wins on the trot after a 3-0 demolition at the hands of Liverpool on the stroke of September’s international break. But despite moving within a two-point distance of fourth-placed Tottenham, Unai Emery’s men may not take the field in high spirits after a 2-1 home defeat to Everton in midweek condemned them to an early League Cup elimination. That result disrupted Villa’s flawless three-game home record across all competitions in 2023/24 (W3). But after winning both home league games this season via multi-goal margins and netting 3+ goals on each occasion, the ‘Lions’ will be confident about bouncing back. Adding to this sentiment, they’ve emerged victorious in three out of four Premier League H2Hs against Brighton at Villa Park (L1).

Like their hosts, Brighton slumped to an unexpected League Cup exit a few days ago, suffering a gut-wrenching 1-0 defeat at Chelsea. However, highly-rated manager Roberto De Zerbi took the opportunity to rest several key first-team members ahead of this trip, with the ‘Seagulls’ bidding to build on their outrageous six-game Premier League start (W5, L1). As the most exciting team to watch in England’s top division this term, the visitors have bagged 3+ goals in all five league victories, with the last three yielding an identical 3-1 scoreline. As one of just three Premier League clubs with a perfect away record this season, Brighton will relish their chances of avenging last season’s Premier League double at the hands of Villa.