Premier League: Brighton Enter the Villan’s Lair

Aston Villa vs Brighton

Unai Emery and the rest of his team have been invincible at Villa Park in the Premier League, but can they fend off a scorching Brighton squad?

Aston Villa will host Brighton on Saturday for another thrilling EPL matchup. Both clubs have been on a roll to start their campaigns this season, so expect a competitive outing from these teams.

The formidable Villans are poised to make history by becoming the ninth different team to have a streak of 10 or more consecutive home wins in the Premier League, but it would require a herculean effort from them with a steamrolling Brighton squad coming to town.

Talking Points

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

Aston Villa tried pursuing Portuguese forward Joao Felix this summer. It looked promising for Villa to land the Barcelona star, until it didn’t.

Felix and Villa were poised to make a blockbuster deal to have the former Golden Boy winner take his talents back to England. Felix already has Premier League experience under his belt, as he was on loan at Chelsea last season. He featured in the Premier League 16 times, earning £250,000 per week.

“the player [Felix] would like to play again in the Premier League and the project that Unai Emery and the new sporting director Monchi are carrying out could facilitate his move to Aston Villa. But at the moment this is just an idea.” Italian journalist Galetti said last month regarding Joao’s pending transfer to Villa.

The Portuguese star had been offered to several Premier League clubs, such as Manchester City and Manchester United, but none really showed any interest in signing the forward. The “agreement” between Felix and Aston Villa had collapsed, and instead, Felix joined Barcelona on a one-year loan deal on the transfer deadline day.

With this whole transfer drama out of Unai Emery’s hair, he and his club can continue to focus on what has been a stellar campaign for them so far. They’re currently sixth in the Premier League table having won four of their last five games.

They’re having a terrific start this season, with or without a blockbuster transfer deal. Emery and his squad now aim to focus on the long campaign ahead of them with the talent that they have; and what they have is working.

Brighton’s super-sub

Brighton are having an outstanding start to this year’s Premier League campaign. They’re coming off a strong 2022-23 season where they finished sixth in the league table, and there’s no sign of slowing down for this hopeful club.

They look pretty comfortable seated among Premier League giants, as they’re currently third in the league table. The season is still young, but they have shown world class football in their first six games.

The Seagulls have won five of their first six matches in the Premier League 2023-24 campaign. And they’ve scored a league-leading 18 goals so far this season.

A key factor behind Brighton’s electric offence is their super sub, Kaoru Mitoma. He featured in all of Brighton’s Premier League matches this year. The Japanese winger had assisted on three goals and scored three himself. Brighton is definitely a force to be reckoned with if they have this much firepower coming off the bench.

Mitoma demonstrated just how dangerous he is when he single-handedly carried Brighton to a comeback victory against Bournemouth last Sunday.

After ending the first half on a 1-1 scoreline against Bournemouth, Mitoma decided to take it upon himself to lead his team to a win in front of their home patrons.

He didn’t waste any time in making his presence felt, as he scored in just 16 seconds after his introduction. It was definitely one of the Premier League 2023 highlights every football fan has to see. To cap things off, he leaped for a close-range header that found the back of the net on 77 minutes to cement their win.

History

Aston Villa look invincible in Villa Park. They’re currently riding on nine consecutive Premier League wins at home. If they manage to keep this streak alive against Brighton, they will become the ninth different team to have had a stint of 10 or more consecutive home wins in the Premier League.

It doesn’t help Brighton’s case that they only won one of their last four Premier League games at Villa Park.

In terms of head-to-head matchups, Villa have Brighton’s number. The Villans have won their last four Premier League fixtures against the Seagulls, surgically and consistently scoring two goals in each outing.

Betting Tip 

Historically, Aston Villa have  consistently scored goals against Brighton at Villa park. Villa found the back of the net at least two times in their last five outings against Brighton. But with that being said, Brighton is coming off of their best season last year and are looking more formidable than ever.

This will be a highly competitive match, and I don’t see both clubs allowing two goals apiece against each other. I personally could see this match ending in a draw, given how both teams are in such good form.

SBOTOP Premier League 2023 odds have the Draw price at 3.35, which we think has immense value.Villa, though, have won against Brighton at Villa Park in their last four Premier League matches. So having them priced as the slight favourite at 2.40 to win is understandable.

 

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