Key events
Villa, meanwhile, will look to move the ball forward a little quicker and direct Brighton into wide areas. But McGinn and Luiz will also look to break into the box and pick up set-pieces, while Diaby and Bailly, with permission to express themselves, will trade to force defenders out of position.
Where is the game? I think Brighton will look to build patiently through midfield, playing off Welbeck and also look for him in the box, with Pedro and Adingra looking for support. I imagine they’ll want to cut in, with the full-backs providing width to stretch Villa’s midfield across the pitch.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how Morgan Rogers does today. He has so much ingenuity and potential, but nevertheless, credit to Emery for integrating him and trusting him; his success and that of Adam Wharton at Palace testify to the quality of the Championship.
This is Roberto De Zerbi. He says playing without important players, especially full-backs, changes something in the build-up and “the last 40 metres”, hence the lack of goals and no win in six. He respects Villa but they want to keep the ball, play football and take a lot of shots.
So where should Villa – potentially boosted by Champions League money – strengthen this summer? A replacement for Ollie Watkins, perhaps right-back and central midfield competition for Douglas Lui, John McGinn and Youri Tielemans? True tales, they are pretty well covered and I think they can do something in Big Ears next season.
Also continues:
Earlier this season:
Villa of course lost 4-2 at home to Olympiakos in midweek. It may take them a while to get off their feet, it was a tight and demanding game and also on their collective minds will be the comeback on Thursday. They’ll be hoping to get Martinez back for at least that, especially given the prospect of penalties.
Martinez is a huge miss for Villa. Whatever you think of his performance attitude, he makes crucial saves and makes few mistakes; Arsenal let him go but he is arguably better than both Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya. Brighton will want to test Olsen early and keep him under pressure afterwards if possible.
As for the cottage, Emmy Martinez remains injured, Robin Olsen replaces him, while up front Pau Torres and Diego Carlos replace Matty Cash and Clement Lenglet.
Three changes for Brighton. from behind Adam Webster and Joel Veltman are replaced by Odeluga Ofia and Valentin Baroko, while Daniel Welbeck is up front ahead of Mark O’Mahony.
Let’s have some teams…
Brighton (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Webster, Dunk, Igor, Veltman; Gilmore, Gross; Adingra, Pedro, Buonanotte; Welbeck. subtitles: Steele, Enciso, Moder, Barco, Baleba, Fatty, Offia, Peupion, O’Mahony.
Aston Villa (4-4-2): Olsen; Konsa, Torres, Carlos, Dine; Bailey, Lewis, Rodgers, McGinn; Diaby, Watkins. subtitles: Gauci, Cash, Moreno, Chambers, Lenglet, Durand, Kessler-Hayden, Iroegbunam, Kelliman.
Preamble
It’s hard not to watch this game and not think about the managers. A little over a year ago, Roberto De Zerbi was the new man to take an already decent side and instantly turn it into more, the goals that seemed so hard to come by under Graham Potter suddenly arrived more freely, along with some wonderful football.
That was then; not so much now though. Perhaps Brighton had finally drawn their richer rivals to the point where they could no longer simply rebuild and perhaps didn’t have the squad to handle Europe, but also, perhaps the opposition had picked up on their style of press bait that can be as annoying to watch as it can be buzz. So they find themselves 13th in the table – last term they finished sixth – and suddenly De Zerby is as close to a bald-faced fraud as he is to an epochal genius.
Unai Emery, on the other hand, is now fully settled among the elite managers. His travails at PSG and Arsenal in particular, while reasonably due to unsettled circumstances beyond his control, can also be used as evidence that he is not suited to the richest clubs. But in taking mid-table clubs to glory seemingly beyond them, he is the best around and Villa looks like another perfect option.
As such, they need just six points from their last three games to be sure of next season’s Champions League competition, but with Palace away and Liverpool at home, that won’t be easily achieved. They will want to put a dent in things here and now.
Start: 14:00 BST
