Both Brighton and Aston Villa will be seeking to return to winning ways when they lock horns at the AMEX in a Premier League Matchday 27 encounter on Saturday evening with kickoff at 18:00.
Both sides have hit slumps in the Premier League recently with Brighton claiming just one in their last six top-flight matches picking up three draws and two defeats in the process, while Aston Villa nave only won one of their last seven league matches picking up two draws and suffering four defeats in the process.
Both head into the match off back-to-back defeats with Brighton losing 2-0 to Manchester United before being beaten 3-0 by relegation battlers Burney. As a result the gap between them and the eighth-placed Tottenham increased to nine points while the inform Southampton is hot on their heels with now just a point separating them.
They will therefore want to bounce back to winning ways as they aim at maintaining their status in the top-half of the table. Although, Graham Potter will need to work on his leaky defence if they are to claim maximum points on Saturday.
Meanwhile Steven Gerrard’s side first fell to a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United at away on Feb 13 before suffering another 1-0 loss to Watford at home last Saturday. As a result Villa have dropped to the 13th spot, sitting on 27 points, three points above the 14th-placed Brentford and are seven points off the relegation zone.
Gerrard’s side needs inspiration from somewhere to snap out of their slump as they will be in danger of being dragged into the relegation battle with another poor result on Saturday. They will however draw confidence from their 2-0 victory against their hosts in the reverse fixture.
Brighton vs Aston Villa head to head
Both sides have met in nine encounters since 2010 with Aston Villa claiming four draws while Brighton have claimed one victory and there have been four draws.
- Aston Villa 2-0 Brighton 20/11/21
- Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa 13/02/21
- Aston Villa 1-2 Brighton 21/11/20
- Brighton 1-1 Aston Villa 18/01/20
- Aston Villa 2-1 Brighton 19/10/19
Home
- Brighton 0-3 Burnley
- Man United 2-0 Brighton
- Watford 0-2 Brighton
- Tottenham 3-1 Brighton
- Leicester 1-1 Brighton
Away
- Aston Villa 0-1 Watford
- Newcastle 1-0 Aston Villa
- Aston Villa 3-3 Leeds
- Everton 0-1 Aston Villa
- Aston Villa 2-2 Man United
Brighton team news
Brighton will be without Jeremy Sarmiento and Enock Mwepu due to injuries.
Aston Villa team news
Aston Villa will be without Marvelous Nakamba due to injury while Bertrand Traore is a doubt.
Prediction and odds
- Double chance
- Goals over 2.5
- Both sides to score
