Brighton v Aston Villa predictions: Entertaining tilt on the cards

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Brighton v Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Premier League, 2pm Sunday

Best bet

Both teams to score & over 2.5 goals
1pt 13-10 Boyles, Coral, Ladbrokes

Team news

Brighton
Jakob Muder remains Brighton's only absentee.

Aston Villa
Diego Carlos and Philippe Coutinho are missing for Villa.

Match preview

Back Brighton and Villa to lay on a goal-laden affair to see us off to the World Cup.

The penultimate match before the Premier League goes into a six-week lockdown has the makings of something very decent.

Brighton, always fun to watch under Graham Potter, are just as eye-catching under his replacement Roberto De Zerbi but are now adding an end product to the good approach work.

And even though it's early days, Aston Villa's two outings under Unai Emery have been fun at both ends of the pitch.

Take a punt on both teams to score and over 2.5 goals.

Five of De Zerbi's eight games in charge of the Seagulls have seen both teams find the net and at least three goals scored, including in each of the last four.

The first of those wins was a statement-making 4-1 romp past Chelsea, the last coming on Wednesday night, a mightily impressive 3-1 success at Arsenal in the League Cup. Admittedly it wasn't a full-strength Gunners but Brighton looked excellent.

The Italian has made several interesting selection and formation tweaks since his arrival at the Amex and it's so far, so good as Albion hunt down three successive league wins for the first time since October 2018.

And De Zerbi is having an impact with Adam Lallana professing his new boss's methods are alien to anything he has seen before – presumably in a good way.

Emery will be less of a secret having managed in the Premier League before and he's certainly off to an entertaining start.

Last Sunday the roof came off the Holte End as Villa beat Manchester United 3-1, a result the Red Devils avenged four days later in the League Cup, running out 4-2 winners.

Emery made plenty of changes for that tie but it's clear in just a week that there is a positive approach from the Spaniard.

Villa did the double over Brighton last season but that's probably not hugely relevant given that neither Potter nor Steven Gerrard are in either technical area any more.

Brighton have lost only one of their last ten at home and are going well so clearly merit favouritism though it's not easy to draw too many conclusions on what to expect from the visitors under their newly-installed gaffer.

Brighton are probably short enough and goals looks the better way in given the positive way the sides seem to be set up.

Key stat

Villa have collected two points from a possible 24 in their last eight away league games.

Inside info

Brighton

Penalty taker Alexis Mac Allister
Assist ace Solly March
Set-piece aerial threat Lewis Dunk
Card magnet Alexis Mac Allister

Aston Villa

Penalty taker Danny Ings
Assist ace Ollie Watkins
Set-piece aerial threat Ezri Konsa
Card magnet Danny Ings

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