Fixtures
- Aston Villa Vs. Brighton and Hove Albion – Mon, Dec 30th 2024, 19:45
Aston Villa look to return to winning ways in their final outing of 2024 on Monday, with a 7.45pm visit of Brighton & Hove Albion.
Villa Park will host Premier League action for the final time this year, with Unai Emery’s side looking for a response to their 3-0 Boxing Day defeat at the hands of Newcastle United.
To do so, they will need to overcome a Seagulls outfit who have made an impressive start to life under young boss Fabian Hürzeler, forming part of the pack chasing European football at the campaign’s midway stage.
Emery’s men have a strong recent run of form against Brighton. Up to losing the last clash between the two sides in May, Villa had won each of the previous five meetings.
Indeed, since Brighton’s promotion back to the Premier League, the two sides have faced off 10 times, with the Villans only losing twice. They will be looking for a fourth victory at the Amex Stadium.
Stats
Brighton’s 14 Premier League away goals this season have been scored by 10 different players, with Danny Welbeck, João Pedro, Kaoru Mitoma and Carlos Baleba the only Seagulls to score more than once on the road (2 each).
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins has scored more Premier League goals against Brighton than he has against any other opponent (6), netting a hat-trick in this exact fixture in a 6-1 win last season.
Aston Villa’s 3-0 loss at Newcastle last time out was their eighth Premier League defeat by 3+ goals under Unai Emery – only Paul Lambert (16) and Dean Smith (9) have lost more games by such a margin in charge of the Villans in the competition.
Coming into this round of matches, no team has scored the first goal in more different Premier League away games than Brighton this season (7). However, the Seagulls have only gone on to win three of these games (D2 L2).
Aston Villa have lost just one of their last 14 Premier League home games (W7 D6), and are unbeaten in their last eight at Villa Park since a 2-0 loss to Arsenal in August (W5 D3).
Brighton have lost their final game of the calendar year in just two of their seven seasons in the Premier League (W3 D2), with both defeats coming in home games against Arsenal (2020 and 2022).
Aston Villa have kept just two clean sheets in their last 23 Premier League games, though both of these have come in home matches (0-0 v Man Utd in October, 1-0 v Southampton earlier this month).
Aston Villa are looking to win their final league game in consecutive calendar years for the first time since 2007/2008, following a 3-2 win against Burnley in their last game of 2023.
Brighton have won just one of their 14 away league games against Aston Villa (D3 L10), losing the last three in a row including a 6-1 loss last season.
Aston Villa lost their last Premier League meeting with Brighton 1-0 in May, having won five in a row against the Seagulls before this.
The Last Meeting
João Pedro’s late goal ended Villa’s four-match unbeaten run in the last meeting between the two sides in May.
The Brazilian’s penalty had initially been stopped by Robin Olsen, though he headed home the rebound to seal a 1-0 win for the Seagulls at the Amex Stadium.
Pascal Groß had an earlier goal ruled out for offside following a VAR check, before John McGinn found the net, only the see the assistant’s flag up.
It was Brighton’s first home win over Villa since 1980, though couldn’t stop Unai Emery’s men from going on to secure Champions League football for 2024/25.
Team News
Unai Emery confirmed pre-match that Jacob Ramsey would again be assessed ahead of the clash, as he nears his return from injury, having partaken in full training with his teammates ahead of the Newcastle Boxing Day defeat.
Jhon Durán will be suspended for the first of three outings, after an appeal to have his Boxing Day red card overturned was rejected, while Matty Cash will also serve a one-match ban having accumulated his fifth booking of the season at St. James’ Park.
The Seagulls will assess Mats Wieffer, Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Adam Webster and Jack Hinshelwood ahead of the clash, after the quartet missed Friday’s draw with Brentford.
Danny Welbeck remains out with an ankle problem for Fabian Hürzeler’s men.
Managers’ Pre-Match Thoughts
“Villa Park is where we have to feel strong with our supporters as well, and comfortable, and keep being consistent there. At home, we have to keep trying to be consistent, like the last matches we did, with our supporters.” – Unai Emery
“We have a big squad, we have big competition and everyone needs to work hard to be on the pitch, and that’s why it will be important to stick together, to find solutions to win these games.” – Fabian Hürzeler
