Brighton vs Aston Villa tips and predictions: Villans plant one foot in Champions League
- George Dempsey
- 3 May 2024
Aston Villa will look to exploit an out-of-sorts Brighton side in the Premier League on Sunday (1400 BST) as they continue their pursuit of Champions League football.
Brighton’s chances of securing European football again have tapered off since Roma dumped them out of the Europa League, but visitors Aston Villa remain in the hunt.
Arsenal (3-0), Man City (4-0) and Bournemouth (3-0) have made light work of Roberto De Zerbi’s side amid a run of six without a win for the Seagulls.
The Villans have been in consistent form all season and they’re capable of beating anyone on their day, as highlighted by their 2-0 win over Arsenal last month.
However, Unai Emery’s side will need to recover quickly from their disappointing midweek defeat in which they lost 4-2 to Olympiakos in Europe.
The short turnaround can be problematic, yet history suggests it won’t affect Villa. They’ve lost two of 12 after a European fixture, winning seven of those matches.
In their most recent outings, they beat Arsenal, and Bournemouth and came from behind to pinch a valuable point against West Ham
Spurs are hot on their tails in fifth place with a game in hand, yet their midweek defeat to Chelsea means one more win for Emery’s side could make them impossible to catch.
The Gunners and City are two of three sides to win at the AMEX this season but the hosts are trending in the wrong direction, scoring two in six and conceding 13.
When you compare and contrast the style of these two teams, it’s not surprising to see Villa have won the last five meetings, including a 6-1 thrashing in the reverse.
Team news
Jan Paul van Hecke, Pervis Estupinan, Jack Hinshelwood and Tariq Lamptey have been ruled out, so Igor Julio will partner Lewis Dunk.
James Milner, Solly March, Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson are also unavailable.
Aston Villa’s backup goalkeeper Robin Olsen will continue if Emi Martinez doesn’t recover in time.
Tyrone Mings, Boubacar Kamara, Emi Buendia, Jacob Ramsey and Alex Moreno are also out, but Youri Tielemans could pass a fitness test.
Key stats
- Brighton are winless in six matches, being outscored 13-2
- Brighton have drawn one and lost six against the current top four
- Aston Villa have won the last five meetings between the two sides
- Aston Villa have scored two or more goals in each of those matches
Suggested bets
