Aston Villa look to claim back to back wins in the Premier League as Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton make the visit to Villa Park. Here’s the latest heading into Saturday’s early kick-off…
Words by: Liam Davies
THE BUILD UP
Unai Emery’s side defeated Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea previously in the league, with Ollie Watkins scoring his first goal of the campaign. Goalkeeper Emi Martรญnez was a standout performer at Stamford Bridge, denying the Blues’ attacking starlets at each and every opportunity to earn his second clean sheet of the campaign. This result propelled the Villans into the top six, earning 12 points from a possible 18 to begin the 2023/23 term.
The claret and blue outfit have since been defeated, however, losing at the hands of Sean Dyche’s Everton in the third round of the Carabao Cup to put an end to their home winning run. Both sides rotated heavily for the fixture, but it was the Toffees who would prevail on the night, with midfielder James Garner capitilising on a calamity at the back from the hosts and Dominic Calvert-Lewin who converted in consecutive games to put the Merseyside club two ahead after 50 minutes.
Boubacar Kamara, with the help of a deflection, scored his first Aston Villa goal in the 83rd minute, but it would not be enough and the West-Midlands outfit would crash out at the first hurdle. Focus now turns back to the Premier League as Emery’s team gears up to face one of the toughest sides in the division in Brighton.
The Seagulls were also defeated in mid-week, losing away at Chelsea by a goal to nil. The visitors saw a lot of the ball on Wednesday night, but it was the hosts who would find the only goal of the game, with Senegalese forward Nicolas Jackson striking the ball home in the 51st minute to send the Blues into the quarter-finals where they will face EFL Championship side Blackburn Rovers.
Last time out in the Premier League, De Zerbi’s side put three past Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth at the Amex Stadium to climb into the top three. Despite going a goal behind through Dominic Solanke’s 25th minute effort, the decision to introduce Kaoru Mitoma at the break helped the home side to all three points. The Japanese winger bagged a brace in the second 45, following Milos Kerkez’s own goal in half-time stoppage time, which made it three wins on the bounce in the league for the south-coast outfit.
Last season, Villa claimed all six points against the Seagulls. First up, was a 2-1 win on the south-coast in Unai Emery’s second game in charge that saw Danny Ings strike twice, followed by another 2-1 victory at Villa Park, courtesy of goals from Douglas Luiz and Ollie Watkins on the final day.
Can Emery inspire his side to bounce back from another mid-week defeat and get the better of Brighton once again or will the Seagulls soar away with all three points tomorrow afternoon?
TEAM NEWS
ASTON VILLA
Unai Emery could be without as many as six players for tomorrow’s home contest at Villa Park. Midfielder Jacob Ramsey who, despite appearing off the bench against both Legia Warsaw and Chelsea in recent weeks, faces a late fitness test ahead of tomorrow’s game after missing the clash with Everton in mid-week.
Ramsey played a massive part in the final game of last season against Brighton and will be a big loss for his side tomorrow if he is to miss out. On the condition of the 22-year-old, Unai Emery said: “Ramsey is still in pain, but we are going to wait until tomorrow, at the last moment, if he can stay on the bench or not.”
Italian play-maker Nicolรฒ Zaniolo is expected to keep his place in the side, if Ramsey is absent.
Jamaican winger Leon Bailey has been ruled out of tomorrow’s home fixture against Brighton. The number 31 was taken off after 40 minutes with a hamstring problem on Wednesday, but shouldn’t be sidelined for long, Emery has confirmed. On the 26-year-old, the head coach said: “โLeon Bailey is out, itโs not a big injury, but heโs not ready for tomorrow.”
Defenders Calum Chambers and Clรฉment Lenglet were not involved in the recent Carabao Cup defeat, but are expected to make tomorrow’s squad and full-back รlex Moreno, who has missed the previous two games, remains out with a ‘small setback’ following four months out with a hamstring injury.
Elsewhere, centre-half Diego Carlos and winger Bertrand Traorรฉ both returned to the squad after injury on Wednesday night and will be available for selection tomorrow, Tim Iroegbunam has returned to training at Bodymoor Heath this week and Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendรญa remain unavailable.
BRIGHTON
Roberto De Zerbi will be without German international Pascal Groร for tomorrow’s match in the West Midlands. The 32-year-old midfielder, who recently became the Seagulls’ all time top goal scorer in the Premier League, has missed the previous two fixtures with a muscular injury and will not recover in time for this weekend’s action.
Providing an update on the number 13 ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Aston Villa, De Zerbi said: “Pascal [Gross] is not available, he might be able to play in the Europa League [on Thursday].”
Former Villan James Milner was another player who missed the recent Carabao Cup fixture in West-London and the veteran has been ruled out of the return to his former side too, with head coach De Zerbi confirming that the 37-year-old has a ‘muscular problem’.
Striker Evan Ferguson was not in the squad for Wednesday’s trip to Stamford Bridge but has trained ahead of the weekend, whilst midfielder Adam Lallana will miss out with a ‘small injury’.
Elsewhere, talented winger Julio Enciso faces up to four months on the sidelines with to a long-term knee injury, as does Polish wing-back Jakub Moder who suffered knee ligament damage and missed the entirety of last season.
Rotation has been frequent this season and Roberto De Zerbi is expected to make more changes for tomorrow’s big fixture in the Premier League. Lewis Dunk, Billy Gilmour and Danny Welbeck are all in contention to return to the starting line-up, with ยฃ23 million signing Carlos Baleba, defender Igor Julio and 18-year-old Facundo Buonanotte expected to drop to the bench.
Can I ask a quick favour? We love producing content for you on our website, and we want to share it with as many Villa fans as possible. Consider mentioning our website next time you’re talking Villa with your friends, or better still, It’s free to subscribe to our profit-free site; you’ll receive instant email notifications of all released articles. Plus, as with the website, no adverts or spam mail will be delivered to your mailbox; only our content. Thanks.
A BIT ON BRIGHTON
In recent times, Brighton & Hove Albion have become recognised as one of the best footballing sides, not only in the division, but in world football. Known for playing a dynamic, possession-based game, the Seagulls are one of the most enjoyable and exciting teams to watch and will be a big test for Unai Emery’s Aston Villa tomorrow.
Roberto De Zerbi has done an incredible job since arriving at the Amex in September 2022 and defied the odds last season by qualifying for Europe for the first time in Brighton’s history. The south-coast side finished sixth in the Premier League last term which meant they would be playing UEFA Europa League football this campaign.
The 2016/17 EFL Championship runner up’s European adventures did not get off to the best of starts, however, as they were defeated by three goals to two at home to Greek side AEK Athens in Group B. Many deemed this fixture as a must win for the Seagulls due to the difficulty of the remaining fixtures, with games against Ligue 1’s Olympique de Marseille and Dutch side AFC Ajax to come.
The start to the Premier League campaign has been nothing short of spectacular, however, with De Zerbi’s team sitting third, behind only Manchester City and Liverpool after six games played. Brighton began the term with a 4-1 victory over newly-promoted Luton, before defeating Wolves away from home. De Zerbi’s side slipped up at home to David Moyes’ West Ham, but bounced back in style with consecutive 3-1 victories over Champions League contesting Newcastle United and Manchester United.
The Seagulls have scored more goals than any other side in the division, converting 18 times so far, which puts them at an average of three goals per game. Irish international Evan Ferguson is the club’s top scorer (4), closely followed by wingers Mitoma and Solly March (3). In terms of assists, full-back Pervis Estupiรฑรกn and Mitoma lead the charts for their side (3) and captain Lewis Dunk is second in the league for most passes completed this season (580).
Brighton endured a busy summer transfer window, bringing in eight new faces and allowing nine players to leave the club. Among the new arrivals are Belgian shot-stopper Bart Verbruggen, Brazilian forward Joรฃo Pedro and Barcelona winger Ansu Fati (loan), whilst the departures list includes three of last season’s top performers in blue and white: Robert Sรกnchez, Moises Caicรฉdo and Alexis Mac Allister who joined Chelsea and Liverpool respectively.
Brighton can momentarily go joint-top of the table with all three points at Villa Park tomorrow, whilst their claret and blue counterparts can level things up with a win.
The stage is set and the game is perfectly poised. There have been some great battles between these two sides over the years and, on the face of it, tomorrow’s affair should be no different – who do you think will come out on top?
Sorry for interrupting the flow of the post; can you help support us? Our non-profit and ad-free website, UTVPODCAST | The Website, is now accepting small donations to help support its continuous evolution and operating costs. We love creating this content for you and want it to be as successful as possible. If you can help; treat us to a coffee. Thank you.
MY PREDICTED LINE-UP
Letโs take a look at my predicted line-up for this upcoming fixture at Villa Park…
Do you agree? Who makes your side? Share yours now and letโs discuss?
MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR: LIAM DAVIES
“Thank you for reading: any likes, retweets, or shares on the social media post where you found this article would be highly appreciated“.
“Are you on Twitter? Drop me a follow; all released articles will be posted to my feed”.
Click the icon below…
Thumbnail Media Credit: www.avfc.co.uk
HUGE SAVINGS ON ASTON VILLA MERCHANDISE @ KITBAG
UTVPODCAST | The Website is pleased to partner with Official AVFC Store, Fanatics, and Kitbag. Throughout the season, we will bring you exclusive offers and discount codes.
