Aston Villa host Brighton in the early kick-off on Saturday, as Unai Emery and the players look to continue our impressive start to the Premier League season.
Despite disappointment in Europe and the Carabao Cup over the past fortnight, Villa have won four of our first six league outings, putting us in sixth place in the standings.
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While our opponents this weekend have fared similarly but sit above us in the table for now, a win would see us move level on points with Roberto De Zerbi’s side, and hopefully set us up to bounce back in the Europa Conference League next week too.
However, full focus will be on this encounter given the difficulty of the opposition, and it’s hoped that we can produce a repeat of the last day of last season and pick up three points, which would secure a 10th consecutive home win in the league for us.
Response needed after woeful midweek display
The performance against Everton on Wednesday night was arguably the worst that we’ve seen since Emery took charge, and so the Villa boss and players will no doubt be determined to bounce back.
Nothing worked in midweek as it was a disjointed and lacklustre display, and so there will have been a lot said and plenty of work done at the training ground in the days since to understand where we went wrong and how to correct it.
This promises to be a more difficult assignment given the quality of this Brighton side, and while our class needs to shine through at both ends of the pitch, we need to show the right attitude and approach in between the two boxes for 90 minutes to get the better of them.
Defensive decision for Emery
With Diego Carlos back in group training this week, time will tell if Emery opts to bring him back in for this one and make a tactical tweak in defence.
We saw over pre-season and in some games so far this year that the system with three centre-halves at the back works well for us, with Ezri Konsa shifting across to right-back, Carlos and Pau Torres in the middle and Lucas Digne given license to get forward down the left.
It remains to be seen if Emery goes with that or sticks with Cash on the right instead with Carlos on the bench, but given the attacking talent Brighton have, we have to build a solid defensive base to give us the platform to out and win it. The Seagulls have a league-high 18 goals so far this season, while they’ve also scored in 22 consecutive league fixtures, scoring 51 times in total.
Luiz-Kamara midfield tandem crucial
The past week has highlighted just how important this Villa duo is in the heart of the midfield. From producing a dominant and classy performance in our win over Chelsea, Kamara’s absence and the breaking up of that partnership was a problem in midweek.
With their ability to break up the opponent’s possession and rhythm with their defensive qualities, coupled with the technical ability and skill that they have on the ball, it’s a perfect balance to influence both phases of the game.
Particularly in these big games against top sides, it’s vital that they impose themselves and dictate tempo and possession in midfield to give us control, and so that will be a pivotal aspect of this contest that could determine the outcome.
Zaniolo continues in Bailey absence
While he continues to impress when involved, Nicolo Zaniolo is seemingly set for an extended key role now with Leon Bailey also out injured after limping off in midweek.
The 24-year-old has made six appearances for us so far, and although he has shown his quality in the final third with his driving runs forward and skill on the ball, he’s still missing that decisive end product.
If he can find some consistency in front of goal to make a bigger impact, he’ll continue to emerge as a crucial asset for Emery this season, and with Brighton failing to keep a clean sheet in their last 10 league games, this could be an ideal time for him to exploit their weaknesses at the back.
Watkins looking to build form
After ending his league goal drought last weekend, it’s imperative that Ollie Watkins puts together a run of goalscoring form now.
We know how important he is for us with his pressing and defensive work ethic as well as his movement and ability to stretch defences to create space for his teammates to exploit, but his goals will be integral to our success this season.
With a habit of going on runs when he does find the back of the net, this would be a great game to continue that trend as he’s also scored in each of his last three appearances against Brighton.