Match Pack: Brighton & Hove Albion

At A Glance

Aston Villa travel to the South Coast on Saturday to take on Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium in the Premier League.

Last time out, the Villans beat Arsenal thanks to an early Ollie Watkins goal as the club equalled the points tally achieved in the whole of last season.

With 17 league games left to play, Dean Smith’s men will be looking to kick on and cement a place in the top half of the table.

Opponents Brighton have enjoyed the majority of their success away from home this campaign, winning four games on the road compared to one victory at home.

However, their sole league win at the Amex came in their last match there as they beat Tottenham 1-0 thanks to a Leandro Trossard goal.

Graham Potter’s team are also on a five-match unbeaten run in the top-flight, earning a 1-1 draw against Burnley last time out.

Standout Stats

Brighton and Hove Albion are looking to complete a league double over Aston Villa for the first time in what is their 11th season facing the Villans.

Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last four away league matches against Brighton (W1 D3), since losing 1-0 in December 1980 to a Michael Robinson goal.

Brighton’s last three home Premier League wins have all been in three different years, winning in December 2019, June 2020 and January 2021. The Seagulls haven’t won consecutive home games since November 2019.

Brighton are unbeaten in their last five Premier League games (W3 D2), with only Manchester City on a longer current run without defeat in the competition (14).

Only Tottenham (32%) have conceded a lower proportion of their Premier League goals in the first half than Aston Villa this season (33% - 8/24), while no side has conceded fewer goals in the opening 30 minutes of Premier League games this term than the Villans (3).

Aston Villa have won 11 Premier League games this season, keeping a clean sheet in 10 of those victories. The only victory in which they conceded was their 7-2 triumph against Liverpool in October, with the Villans losing eight and drawing one of their nine games in which they’ve conceded since that win.

Aston Villa’s 11 Premier League wins this season is their most in a single top-flight campaign since 2010-11 (12), while their six away wins is their most in the Premier League since 2009-10 (9).

Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish has been directly involved in five goals in his last five appearances against Brighton in all competitions (4 goals, 1 assist), scoring in his last two at the Amex.

Ollie Watkins has scored 10 Premier League goals for Aston Villa this season, the most by an English player in a top-flight campaign for the Villans since Gabriel Agbonlahor in 2009-10 (13).

The Last Meeting

Brighton swept into Villa Park and upset the odds to beat Aston Villa in November.

There was plenty of controversy after the hosts were denied an injury-time penalty for a foul on Trezeguet after VAR intervened.

Ezri Konsa had earlier cancelled out Danny Welbeck’s opener before Solly March curled home the winner after 56 minutes.

Team News

Dean Smith has no new injury concerns ahead of the match after his team came through their last outing against Arsenal unscathed.

Kortney Hause and Wesley are the only injury absentees.

Counterpart Graham Potter has some late decisions to make concerning Davy Propper and Adam Webster’s inclusion in his matchday squad.

Tariq Lamptey looks set to miss out, while Florin Andone and Solly March are ruled out.

The Boss

Training Gallery

Ahead of the game at the Amex, the squad have a week to prepare after last weekend's 1-0 victory against Arsenal.

Here are some of the latest pictures from training...