Aston Villa vs BrightonEngland – Premier LeagueDate: Saturday, 19 October 2019Kick-off at 15:00 UK / 16:00 CETVenue: Villa Park (Birmingham).
match preview
While many will be surprised to see Villa came away with a 5-1 win over Norwich City at Carrow Road last time, Dean Smith strong players will find that the results serve as a belated reward for the work they have put in since August.Two goals from new signing Wesley, combined with the performance hallmarked by sheer speed, highlighting how this Villa team can look comfortable at this level when all the moving parts work.
After duly lost three of their opening four games, performances Villa contained goals and greater intensity over the next four, as seen most insistent in painful last-minute defeat 3-2 to Arsenal at the Emirates.
However, Villa will be necessary for the required intensity with cutting edge in the final third if they want to keep up, puts extra importance on Wesley and John McGinn, two players who have looked sharp, alongside captain Jack Grealish.
The Villans have excellent opportunities to further enhance their confidence in third this weekend against Brighton team that only managed one win from their last nine away games in the league.
Brighton last outing, a convincing 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur poor side, similar to Villa in the sense that it comes at a time the results have not gone their way.
After failing to win since the opening day of the season, the Seagulls went about their business against Mauricio Pochettino's side like a team with nothing to lose, setting in motion, physical performance astute tactics.
dynamic will change when they travel to Villa Park for a game that will no doubt contain fewer obvious opportunities and one is likely to be decided by a good margin.
The new boss Graham Potter would have been driven by the killer instinct shown by youngsters Aaron Connolly against the Spurs, with an impressive 19-year dovetailing with Neal Maupay and produced two classy finishes.
This partnership may be important in the future if Brighton were to gain a foothold against Villa in the game with a different feel compared to a
sault at Spurs.
Opta stats
Aston Villa have never lost a home match against Brighton in any competition, winning eight and drawing three of their 11 meetings.This is the first top-flight meeting between Aston Villa and Brighton since March 1983 - a goalless draw at the Goldstone ground.
Following their 5-1 win at Norwich last time, Aston Villa were looking to secure back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time since May 2015.
Despite playing only 155 minutes this season, Aaron Connolly has had the most shots on target for Brighton second in the Premier League this season (5), scoring twice. Ireland forward was average shots on goal every 31 minutes, the second-best ratio among all players have played at least 90 minutes .
