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Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion will want to go back to winning ways when they square off in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon at Villa Park after losing in the EFL Cup third round on Wednesday.
The Seagulls lost to Chelsea by a slim margin of 1-0 on the same day that the Lions were defeated 2-1 at home by Everton.
Aston Villa have had an erratic recent run of play, winning and losing each of their past six games across all competitions while juggling domestic and European obligations.
After losing 3-2 to Legia Warsaw in their first Europa Conference League group-stage match, Unai Emery's team quickly moved on by defeating Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League last weekend. However, they were then thoroughly outplayed by Everton in the EFL Cup, exiting in the third round for the second year in a row.
Seven minutes from time, Boubacar Kamara scored his first goal for Villa, but it didn't matter since James Garner and Dominic Calvert-Lewin had already helped Everton secure a fourth-round bye.
After winning three straight matches by an aggregate score of 10-1, Villa's loss to the Toffees halted their perfect start to the new season at home. However, Emery's team may be sure of victory on Saturday given their strong home record in the Premier League.
In fact, Villa has won all four of their recent league encounters with Brighton, including a 2-1 home victory on the final day of the previous campaign. This is their best winning streak in front of their own supporters since a run of 13 straight victories between February and October 1983.
With a 3-1 comeback win over Bournemouth in the Premier League last weekend sandwiched between a Europa League loss to AEK Athens and the midweek loss to Chelsea in the EFL Cup, Brighton has had a same three-game winning-losing streak as Aston Villa.
The Seagulls had more than 60% of the ball at Stamford Bridge, but they lacked finesse in the final third, placing only two of their 13 efforts on goal. Nicolas Jackson's goal in the 50th minute broke the tie.
With three difficult games against Aston Villa, Marseille, and Liverpool coming up in eight days, Roberto De Zerbi was dissatisfied with the outcome and urged the younger members of his team to "progress quickly" throughout their busy fixture calendar.
Brighton has established itself in the Premier League this season, winning five of their first six games and scoring a league-high 18 goals in the process, despite their exit from the EFL Cup and a sluggish start in Europe.
With victories over Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers this year, Brighton is currently third in the table and three points ahead of Aston Villa in sixth.
Aston Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey will join Tyrone Mings, Emiliano Buendia (both knee), and Tim Iroegbunam (unspecified) on the injured list after missing the midweek loss to Everton with a "small injury" and Leon Bailey being forced off due to a thigh strain.
In order to allow John McGinn to switch from his impromptu defensive role in the middle of the week to a more comfortable appearance in center-midfield, Lucas Digne is scheduled to be recalled at left-back. Alex Moreno is getting closer to returning from a hamstring injury, but Saturday's game will likely come too soon for the Spaniard.
The opening match of the day on Saturday is Aston Villa hosting Brighton and Hove Albion and features two clubs looking to upset the established order in the Premier League. Who will make a statement about their desire to play in Europe given that both teams are currently inside the top six heading into Matchday 7?
Under Unai Emery, Villa did a fantastic job of transforming their house into a fortress. Since he took over in November of last year, they have won 11 of their 15 home league games; only Manchester City (14), Manchester United (13) and Liverpool (12) have more home wins during that time.
The past nine home league victories for Villa are their greatest streak since they won 13 straight games at Villa Park in 1983. If they win on Saturday, they will become the ninth different team in England's top division to have a 10-match home winning streak.
However, their impressive play hasn't just been at Villa Park; last Sunday, an Ollie Watkins goal gave them a 1-0 victory against Chelsea. For the seventh time, Villa began a Premier League season with four victories in their first six games. However, they only twice went on to win five of their first seven games, in 1998-99 and 2020-21.
After scoring his first league goal of 2023–24, Watkins will be eager to continue, and Brighton is one of the striker's favorite opponents. Only Sergio Agüero, Jamie Vardy, and Phil Foden have scored in four straight games against Brighton in the tournament. He has scored in each of his last three Premier League appearances against them.
Only Man Utd (14) have kept more Premier League clean sheets than Villa (11) since Emery took charge at the opposite end of the field. The hosts will hope their in-form backline of Matty Cash, Pau Torres, Ezri Konsa, and Lucas Digne can defend Emiliano Martnez's goal, since Brighton has scored a league-high 18 goals this season.
The early kickoff on Saturday gives Roberto De Zerbi's team the opportunity to catch Manchester City at the top of the standings with 18 points. Brighton enters Matchday 7 third in the league standings.
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The Seagulls required 12 games to reach five Premier League victories the previous season, but they did so in half as many games (six) in 2023–24. They last began a league campaign as a Championship club in 2015–16 with six victories out of seven games.
Last Sunday, De Zerbi's squad was behind Bournemouth, but Kaoru Mitoma, a substitute, scored a pair of game-winning goals after Milos Kerkez threw the ball in his own net. After former Leicester City championship winner Shinji Okazaki (14), Mitoma is the only Japanese player to achieve double digits in the Premier League with 10 goals overall.
Mitoma's goals were set up by Mahmoud Dahoud and Pervis Estupián, making a total of five players greater than Estupián's eight Premier League assists in 2023, three of which came this season. Only Bruno Fernandes (74) has produced more opportunities from open play in this year's championship than the Ecuadorian (47) does.
Julio Enciso has been out for a while, although Evan Ferguson was pulled due to illness last weekend and should be available on Saturday. Billy Gilmour is anticipated to stay in the middle of the field after James Milner and Pascal Groß missed Wednesday's Carabao Cup loss at Chelsea due to injury.
Leon Bailey is questionable for Villa after being taken off during the opening period of their 2-1 Carabao Cup loss on Wednesday. Tyrone Mings, Diego Carlos, and Emiliano Buenda are not present.
Recently, Brighton has developed a bit of a dislike for Aston Villa. In their last 14 league meetings against the Seagulls, they have only lost one (eight wins, five draws), however that loss occurred at Villa Park in November 2020.
In fact, Villa has defeated Brighton in their last four Premier League matches, winning each time with exactly two goals.
When the teams last faced off, Douglas Luiz and Watkins scored to give Villa a 2-1 victory on the final day of the previous campaign.
Villa qualified for the Europa Conference League before Tottenham thanks to the victory, finishing seventh in the Premier League, one point and one position behind Brighton.
Aston Villa has won 14 of its last 21 Premier League games after going on a three-game losing streak in February (three draws, four losses).
Only Man City (55) and Liverpool (48) have amassed more Premier League victories since February 25, when Villa's streak started with a 2-0 victory at Everton.
Brighton has 51 goals overall and has scored in 22 straight league games. They have only managed six clean sheets over that period, and none of them have occurred this year.
