Unai Emery’s Aston Villa travel south to face Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton side before the four-week World Cup break. Here’s all you need to know for this GW16 fixture…
THE BUILD-UP
Villa and Brighton were on opposite sides of EFL Cup results in midweek. The Villans travelled to Old Trafford to battle Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United and lost 4-2, despite leading the tie twice. The Seagulls headed to Premier League leaders Arsenal and came away 3-1 winners.
Aston Villa officially announced their new club crest after months of planning, deliberating and fan-votes. The new crest will come into effect from the 2023/24 season and can be seen below:
The club also announced a mid-season friendly fixture against Unai Emery’s previous team Villarreal. The match will take place on Thursday 15th December and will help the side get back to full fitness before a big test up against JΓΌrgen Klopp’s Liverpool 11 days later in the Premier League.
TEAM NEWS
Both sides came away unscathed from midweek action. Philippe Coutinho and Diego Carlos are Aston Villa’s only absentees.
Unai Emery will lose four players next week for the Qatar World Cup, with the rest of his squad travelling to Dubai at the beginning of December for a mid-season training camp.
Matty Cash and Jan Bednarek have been called up to represent Poland. Their Group C opponents are Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Argentina.
That means the duo will face Emiliano Martinez who has been called up for Argentina. Leander Dendoncker is the fourth and final Villan on the plane as his Belgium side face up against Canada, Morocco and Croatia in Group F.
Brighton have just the one player unavailable for this weekend. Cash and Bednarek’s international teammate Jakub Moder is sidelined with a long-term knee injury.
De Zerbi will also lose a host of players to the World Cup, including Ecuadorian trio Moises Caciedo, Pervis EstupiΓ±Γ‘n and Jeremey Sarmiento. Ecuador are in Group A and will play Netherlands, Senegal and the hosts Qatar.
Tariq Lamptey represents Ghana and will play Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea in Group H. Kaoru Mitoma will represent Japan and Robert Sanchez has been called up for Spain. The two could play each other in Group E, with Germany and Costa Rice completing the group.
Meanwhile, Leandro Trossard will join Dendoncker in the Belgium camp and Alexis Mac Allister reconnects with Emi Martinez for Argentina.
A BIT ON BRIGHTON
Brighton are 6th in the Premier League on 23 points after 14 games played. Graham Potter began the campaign as head coach before leaving for Chelsea at the start of September. The 47 year-old spent over three years on the south-coast and helped progress Albion into an established Premier League side that is now pushing for a European place.
Roberto De Zerbi succeeded Potter ten days after his move to London and has done a steady job during his seven weeks in England. The former Sassuolo head coach drew 3-3 with Liverpool in his first game and was unfortunate not to take all three points. Since then, he has lost three, drawn one and won three; including a 4-1 victory over his predecessor.
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Trossard is one of many to impress in blue and white this season, with Pascal GroΓ and Alexis Mac Allister (to name a few) in good form too. The Seagulls’ captain Lewis Dunk has also made a good start to the campaign and Brighton fans are adamant that their No.5 should have been a part of Gareth Southgate’s squad for Qatar.
The Seasiders’ highest Premier League finish is 9th – achieved last season under Graham Potter. De Zerbi’s side are on course to bettering that this year and will look to Sunday’s game against Aston Villa to help them on their way.
PREDICTED LINEUP
Below is Liamβs predicted line-up for Sunday’s game against Brighton:
He thinks Unai Emery will make seven changes from Thursday’s fixture at Old Trafford β do you agree? What changes would you make?
Make your own attempt by accessing the following link: https://utvpodcast.co.uk/line-up-selector/.
AUTHOR | LIAM DAVIES
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive liamayrtondavies – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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