Overview
Since a streak of 8 consecutive wins in the Premier League at the end of last year, Aston Villa has only won 2 in the last 7 matches (3 draws, 3 losses), and dropped points in the first two matches of February against Brentford and Bournemouth.
Unai Emery's team lost narrowly 0-1 at home to Brentford, before leaving Bournemouth with a 1-1 draw last weekend. These two results almost closed the slim hopes in chasing Arsenal in the championship race, forcing Villa to redefine priorities for the rest of the season.
Villa is currently ranked third in the standings, 9 points behind Arsenal and creating a gap of 8 points with Liverpool in sixth place (before round 26). However, the Midlands team is not allowed to be complacent, because they also have to face Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea in turn before the season ends.
Emery's team has lost their last 2 home games in the Premier League against Brentford and Everton. Now, they are trying to avoid becoming the first team in the league history to lose 3 home games in a row after winning 8 (or more) games before. Villa has also not lost 3 consecutive home games since November 2020, when Dean Smith was still in charge.
However, Villa can be somewhat confident as they have won 7 of their last 9 Premier League encounters with Brighton (1 draw, 1 loss). They will aim to complete a double victory against the "Turtle" for the third time, after doing so in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons.
In the opposite direction, after being equalized 1-1 by Everton in the 90+7 minute at home, Brighton continued to suffer their eighth defeat in the Premier League this season when they lost 0-1 to Crystal Palace last weekend. The match at American Express Stadium was decided by Ismaila Sarr's goal in the 61st minute.
A part of Brighton fans reacted strongly to head coach Fabian Hurzeler with shouts "you will be sacked tomorrow morning" when the match ended. After the match, the German strategist admitted that the team is having problems and finding a solution is the number one priority.
Brighton's form has clearly declined when the only victory in their last 12 Premier League matches (6 draws, 5 losses) was a 2-0 victory over Burnley on January 3. Since the beginning of December, the "Seagulls" have only won 9 points and fallen to the bottom of the table.
In just a few months, Brighton dropped sharply from fifth to 14th. Therefore, they need a strong sprint if they still want to nurture hopes of competing for a European cup spot.
However, the goal of winning positive results in the middle of the week is not easy. Brighton has not won all 5 recent away matches in the Premier League (3 draws, 2 losses). They have also only won 1 in 6 away matches against Aston Villa (1 draw, 4 losses).
Personnel situation
Aston Villa players such as Youri Tielemans (ankle injury), John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara (both knee injuries), along with Andres Garcia (brother's injury) are still sidelined. Newcomer Alysson (knee injury) is also absent, although he has returned to training since last week.
On Brighton's side, Jan Paul van Hecke is expected to return to the squad after a minor thigh injury that caused him to miss the loss to Crystal Palace last weekend. However, Stefanos Tzimas, Adam Webster, Solly March (all knee injuries), Mats Wieffer (ankle/foot injury) and Yasin Ayari (shoulder injury) are still absent.
Expected lineup:
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen, Onana, Luiz, Sancho, Rogers, Buendia, Watkins.
Verbruggen, Kadioglu, Dunk, Boscagli, De Cuyper, Gomez, Baleba, Gross, Minteh, Welbeck, Mitoma.
The match between Aston Villa and Brighton takes place at 2:30 am on January 12 (Vietnam time).
