Brighton & Hove Albion vs Aston Villa

Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa are set to trade tackles in a potentially ‘make or break’ Premier League encounter at the Amex Stadium.

Brighton’s morale took a massive hit at the weekend as Nottingham Forest knocked them out of the FA Cup quarter-final on penalties, intensifying the pressure on the team to perform in the Premier League. With only nine games left, Fabian Hurzeler’s men sit only four points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea, meaning a historic first Champions League finish is within striking distance. Brighton shared the spoils with Manchester City in a dramatic 2-2 draw in their last league outing, extending their unbeaten run in this competition to five matches (W4, D1). Furthermore, three of those four victories came in East Sussex, putting the Seagulls in a position to win four successive top-flight games on home turf for the first time in club history. 

However, visiting Aston Villa can stop their hosts in their tracks after avoiding defeat in four of their last five away H2Hs (W2, D2). Unlike Brighton, Unai Emery’s charges progressed from their FA Cup quarter-final tie, beating second-tier Preston 3-0 on the road to make it six successive wins in all competitions. On top of that, the Lions have won their last six competitive games on the road, impressively netting precisely three goals on three occasions! The visitors are chasing consecutive away league wins for the first time since their opening two road games of the season. Yet, they’ve ominously failed to score more than once in nine of their last ten Premier League away games.