Albion start their age of Steele away at Aston Villa
Two giants of the game will be involved in a Premier League fixture for the first time in their respective footballing roles when 1982 European Champions Aston Villa host Brighton and I do not need to tell you which is more exciting.
Forget Steven Gerrard making his managerial bow in English football in the Villa dugout. The real story is Jason Steele, who will make his Premier League debut at the sprightly age of 31.
When the Albion first signed Steele in the summer of 2018 as their third choice goalkeeper to tick a home grown quota box, he was probably expecting a life of training, golf, drinking beer and occasionally sitting on the bench in the League Cup.
And yet here we are with Steele about to be thrown into the pressure cooker of the English top flight for the first time in his career.
Maty Ryan, David Button and Christian Walton have all left the Albion in the past three years and Graham Potter does seemingly not think Kjell Scherpen is up to it yet having paid £4.2 million for the giant Dutchman in the summer.
With Robert Sanchez suspended, Steele suddenly finds himself thrust in front of a packed Villa Park against a side eager to give their new manager the perfect start. It is going to be quite the afternoon.
Aston Villa this season
So, it turns out that Aston Villa were a one-man team. Jack Grealish became public enemy number one with the claret part of Birmingham when he had the nerve to swap the bottom half of the Premier League for playing in one of the greatest teams in football history managed by one of the greatest managers of all time.
Without their star man, Villa subsequently find themselves struggling down in 16th spot. A number of the new signings bought in with that £100 million windfall for Grealish have failed to fire so far and a five game losing streak saw Dean Smith sacked a little under two weeks ago.
There was no hanging about. Gerrard was lured from Rangers within a few days and now faces the task of trying to keep Villa out of the relegation zone.
Because – and this may come as something to a shock to Vila fans who rival even The Leeds United in the delusions of grandeur stakes – being European Champions in 1982 does not have any bearing on where a club finishes in the Premier League in 2022.
Team news
Unless Potter has been telling porkies – and if he has then dedicating a whole introduction to Steele is going to look bloody stupid – then we know who starts in goal.
Steele’s presence might dictate how the Albion line up in front of him too. Given that we have seen Steele struggle with the ball at his feet in both League Cup ties against Swansea City and Leicester City, it would be sensible to ensure that he is involved in building from the back as little as possible.
One way to avoid that is by using your best ball playing centre backs, who are less likely to take the ‘easy’ option of going home to the goalkeeper. That would mean a back three of Joel Veltman, Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster.
Such a selection omitting the outstanding Shane Duffy would not be without controversy, especially as the last time Duffy was left out the Albion were a shambles in conceding three times in 30 minutes to Manchester City.
Potter rarely cares for form though, instead selecting the best team for the occasion. And this is one of those days when he needs to help his goalkeeper by playing to the strengths of Steele and helping mask his weaknesses.
Elsewhere, Enock Mwepu is injured, giving Potter the chance to reunite Pascal Gross, Yves Bissouma and Adam Lallana as the midfield three who had the Albion in the Champions League spots before Bissouma’s September injury.
You would think this is the sort of game made for Neal Maupay too, who loves a goal against clubs he has history with.
Aston Villa were very much interested in signing Maupay in the summer of 2020 before the Frenchman opted to move to the Amex. What better way for Maupay to show the Villa faithful what they missed out on than with a goal?
For Villa, Danny Ings is available after illness and Ezri Konsa is back from suspension. Unfortunately, the best named player in the Premier League misses out with a muscle problem – not so marvellous for Marvelous Nakamaba.
Key battles
This looks like the sort of game which is made for Tariq Lamptey to really announce his return from long term injury. Lamptey was excellent off the bench against Manchester City and Liverpool before making his first start last time out against the Saudi Sportswashers.
A combination of building up decent minutes and now facing a Villa side who will want to attack means that Lamptey should have the fitness and the opposition tactics to thrive against.
He will be up against Matt Targett, one of the most underrated left backs in the Premier League. Lamptey was controversially sent off last time he came up against Targett in this fixture a year ago, whilst two years ago it was Targett who scored Villa’s winner in the final seconds after some appalling game management from the Albion.
What happens down the Brighton right could go a long way towards deciding whether it is a happy home debut for Gerrard or not.
Recent form
Those five Premier League defeats in a row cost Smith his job, although three of them should perhaps not have been unexpected.
Spurs may have had Nuno in charge at the time but they were still a good team, West Ham are currently battling for the title and Arsenal have been the form side in the top flight since their rocky opening month – and the return from Covid of a certain Ben White.
The good news for Gerrard and Aston Villa is that Brighton have a long and proud tradition of being the club who teams tend to end losing streaks such as these against.
- 05/11/21: Southampton 1-0 Aston Villa
- 31/10/21: Aston Villa 1-4 West Ham
- 22/10/21: Arsenal 3-1 Aston Villa
- 16/10/21: Aston Villa 2-3 Wolves
- 03/10/21: Spurs 1-0 Aston Villa
- 25/09/21: Man United 0-1 Aston Villa
Whisper it quietly, but Brighton are without a Premier League win in six matches stretching back to the 2-1 victory over Leicester City in September.
That the Albion remain seventh is something of a miracle really but one that Potter is no doubt thankful for as it has helped gloss over this barren run.
Still, Brighton are not losing many games. The Albion remain unbeaten on the road so far and if they can continue that run at Villa Park then they may climb back into the European spots by the time we are all hopelessly lost in the new New Street Station before the train home.
- 06/11/21: Brighton 1-1 Newcastle
- 30/10/21: Liverpool 2-2 Brighton
- 27/10/21: Leicester 2-2 Brighton
- 23/10/21: Brighton 1-4 Man City
- 16/10/21: Norwich 0-0 Brighton
- 02/10/21: Brighton 0-0 Arsenal
Last time we met
It was a 0-0 draw at the Amex in February. Jack Grealish got booked for kicking Veltman because it was the only way out of the Dutch defender’s pocket, Emiliano Martinez gave one of the best displays of goalkeeping ever seen and Sausage was crowned the winner of The Masked Singer and revealed to be Joss Stone.
Aston Villa v Brighton head-to-head
Brighton wins against Aston Villa are rarer than a promise kept by Boris Johnson. The Albion have won only five times from 27 attempts, only two of those have come in the top flight and just one has taken place at Villa Park.
The Seagulls can at least take some solace from that single victory in front of the Holte End coming on their last visit almost a year to the day.
Danny Welbeck and Solly March were on target as it finished Villa 1-2 Brighton, the Seagulls securing their second win of the season at the ninth attempt.
Villa meanwhile have 13 victories to their name from the fixture and there have been nine draws.
A reason why Aston Villa will win
The new manager factor. It has been just the Albion’s bloody luck that we face Villa with Gerrard in charge for the first time, having previously taken on a fired-up Newcastle with Smug Eddie Howe watching on from the stands last time out.
A reason why Brighton will win
As we saw against Newcastle and Norwich, Brighton still struggle for results against sides who sit back and defend. Villa under Dean Smith might well have done that, realising it to be the best route to success against the Seagulls.
Gerrard on the other hand is going to want to make a good impression. He knows that he will not do that if his side try and contain the Albion rather than get on the front foot.
An attacking Villa play right into the Albion’s hands, giving Lallana, Lamptey, Marc Cucurella and Leandro Trossard the sort of space they need to thrive.
Aston Villa v Brighton betting
Villa are certain to attack and who knows what Steele will get up to in goal as he mixes the sublime with the ridiculous in a way few other individuals can – see looking like a bloke who was pissed for 120 minutes before saving four penalties in the shoot out against Newport.
If Villa pour forward then Brighton too will fancy their chances on the counter, especially against a Villa defence which has hardly been convincing so far this season.
Over 3.5 goals is available at a best priced 17/5. As for the identity of one of those scorers, Trossard has been in electric form in recent weeks since being used as a striker. None of the bookmakers seems to have realised this and he is still 4/1 to score anytime.
Predictions
Prediction of score: Aston Villa 2-2 Brighton
Prediction of Jason Steele comedy count: High
