Aston Villa welcome Brighton to Villa Park in match week seven of the Premier League. With both sides having strong starts to the season, three points from this clash will keep them in contention for the places in the top European competitions.
Villa currently sit sixth in the Premier League after six games. Aston Villa have four wins and two losses, leaving them on 12 points, two points adrift of the Champions League spots.
In their last five games in all competitions, Villa have two wins and three losses. In the game against Liverpool, Villa could only manage nine shots as Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah scored along with an own goal from Matty Cash to give Liverpool the 3 - 0 win. However, next weekend, Villa bounced back, though they left it late on. Odsonne Edouard put Crystal Palace ahead early in the second half and Villa left it until the 87th minute to mount their comeback. Jhon Duran scored in the 87th minute, Douglas Luiz converted a penalty in the eighth minute of extra time and Leon Bailey scored in the 11th minute of extra time to grab the 3 - 1 win.
In their first game in the Europa Conference League, Aston Villa faced Legia Warszawa. Pawl Wszolek scored in the third minute but Duran quickly equalised for Villa. Lucas Digne’s goal was not enough as Ernest Muci grabbed a double to give Legia the 3 - 2 win. Ollie Watkins scored the only goal in a 1 - 0 win against a struggling Chelsea side who were down to ten men after Malo Gusto’s red card.
Aston Villa hosted fellow Premier League side Everton in the Third round of the League Cup. Boubacar Kamara scored late on but it wasn’t enough as James Garner and Dominic Calvert-Lewin both scored to give Everton the 2 - 1 win.
Brighton, on the other hand, sit third in the Premier League. In six games, The Seagulls have five wins and one loss which leaves them on 15 points, just three points away from top of the league Manchester City.
In their last five games in all competitions, Brighton have three wins and two losses. Evan Ferguson grabbed an impressive hat-trick against Newcastle in a 3 - 1 win, with Callum Wilson on the scoresheet for Newcastle in the 92nd minute. The Seagulls picked up another 3 - 1 win, this time against Manchester United. Danny Welbeck, Pascal Gross and Joao Pedro all scored for Brighton as Hannibal Mejbri scored for United.
Brighton’s first appearance in the Europa League was a baptism of fire. Pedro scored two penalties but Djibril Sidibe, Mijat Gacinovic and Ezequiel Ponce all scored to give AEK Athens the 3 - 2 win. However, Brighton were back to winning ways against Bournemouth. The Cherries took the lead through Dominic Solanke but an own goal from Milos Kerkez and a double from Kaoru Mitoma gave Brighton the 3 - 1 win.
Brighton faced Chelsea in the Third round of the League Cup on Wednesday. Nicolas Jackson scored the only goal of the game in the second half giving Chelsea the 1 - 0 win.
Aston Villa and Brighton have met 31 times in their histories with the first meeting coming back in 1910. Villa have a far better record in the fixture with 17 wins in comparison to Brighton’s five wins. In fact, a draw is more common in this fixture, happening nine times.