Steven Gerrard will take charge of Aston Villa for the first time this weekend after calling time on his stay at Rangers as Brighton visits home. The match schedules for Saturday at Villa Park with kickoff at 6 pm.
Villa is looking to end a run of five straight league defeats that has left the club looking increasingly vulnerable.
But they go into the game against Manchester United without several players due to injury, suspension, and international duty.
With a new manager in place, the Villans will be banking on their strengths in attack, but the Seagulls have been incredibly difficult to break down in front of their own fans.
Villa has been much stronger at home as they picked up eight points from their first nine games played on home soil.
The Villans took on Man United but lost three goals to nil, which would have hurt the supporters, but they have bounced back, winning their last two at Villa Park.
There is a large disparity between a team that has scored 12 goals from 11 games and a team that has conceded 12 from 9 games, with Brighton looking to score more goals while also being hard to break down defensively.
Brighton will look to frustrate Villa, and the best tactic is not to get sucked into a war of attrition with them. They like to play out from the back and look upfront for an outlet on the counter-attack.
Aston Villa vs. Brighton Head to Head
Both sides have eight games against each other with one win, while Brighton with three wins. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Southampton 1-0 Aston Villa
- Aston Villa 1-4 West Ham
- Arsenal 3-1 Aston Villa
- Aston Villa 2-3 Wolves
- Tottenham 2-1 Aston Villa
Away
Brighton 1-1 Newcastle
Liverpool 2-2 Brighton
Leicester City 2-2 Brighton
Brighton 1-4 Man City
Norwich City 0-0 Brighton
Aston Villa Team News
Danny Ings has stepped up his recovery from the virus, which ruled him out of the last two games before the international break. With doubts over the fitness of both Sporting’s Douglas Luiz and Brentford’s Marvelous Nakamba, the midfielder has provisionally been called up to the squad after suspension.
Brighton Team News
Brighton has several things to worry about – a gap in the fixture list, a lack of a match-winner, and the fact the gap is so small. Enock Mwepu looks okay for this weekend, but Dan Burn will not be ready while Aaron Connolly is available.
Prediction and Odds
Both sides come into the match without the best of form; hence we anticipate sharing spoils.
- Draw
- Double Chance
- Goals Under 3.5
