Match Preview: Brighton v 1982 European Champions Aston Villa
We were not really sure how to start our Brighton v Aston Villa match preview. Should we go with the angle of Villa being one of the best clubs in the world and a team who should be easily finishing in the top four every year because they won the European Cup in 1982, as their fans often remind everyone?
Or should we instead focus on them being Jack Grealish FC rather than Aston Villa? Because after Crystal Palace and Wilfried Zaha, Villa are the most one-man team in the Premier League.
Brighton know that better than most. Grealish has an outstanding record against the Albion, notching four times in his past five appearances, including that goal in the final minute of the final game of the 2016-17 season which squirmed through David Stockdale’s legs to cost Chris Hughton’s side the Championship title.
To appease both fans of Villa’s 1982 European Cup triumph and their current status as a one-man team, we have decided to go with both. Welcome to our our match preview for Brighton v 1982 European Champions Aston Villa aka Jack Grealish FC (unfortunately, too long a title to have fitted in the box).
Aston Villa this season
Frankly, Villa are lucky to be in the Premier League this season. Cast your mind back to Project Restart in the summer when Sheffield United visited Villa Park, somebody forgot to turn on the goal line technology and Villa ended up drawing with the Blades rather than losing.
Everyone joked at the time about that little mistake keeping Villa up. Lo and behold, a few weeks later they avoided a return to the Championship by a single point, which sent Plucky Little Bournemouth down instead.
Aston Villa were the luckiest team ever to escape relegation, but you know what they say – when you have won the European Cup 38 years ago, you earn your luck.
To be fair to Villa, they have made the most of their reprieve. Dean Smith spent big during pre-season and his recruitment was spot on. That is easier said than done and chucking millions of pounds at players does not work if they are the wrong individuals (hello Jurgen Locadia).
Smith identified where his team needed strengthening – which was at both ends of the pitch – and went out and signed players to do that. Ollie Watkins arrived from Brentford to score goals and Emiliano Martínez from Arsenal to keep them out at the other end.
Whilst we may joke about some Villa supporters’ delusions of grandeur, they were correct when they predicted that they would not be in a relegation battle again.
With 35 points on the board, they are basically safe already. West Ham United in sixth are only four points away and Villa have two games in hand on the Irons, so qualifying for the Europa League and enjoying a continental tour in 2021-22 to mark the 40th anniversary of winning the European Cup is not out of the question.
Recent form
Brighton will come into the game with the better form, unbeaten now in five Premier League matches after facing The Leeds United, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Burnley.
Most importantly from an Albion point of view, that home win monkey is finally off the Seagulls’ backs following the victory over Spurs. Having gone a club-record 14 games without a win on home soil, it would be typical Brighton to secure back-to-back successes against two visitors in the top 10 of the Premier League.
Villa’s recent run is probably best described as inconsistent with three wins and three defeats from their last six. Beating Arsenal at home and Southampton away were impressive results and they also picked up a win over their former manager Steve Bruce by beating Newcastle United.
Even a club who won the 1982 European Cup would struggle to beat rampant Manchester City at the moment, so a 2-0 loss at the Etihad Stadium hardly came as a surprise.
Seeing Villa defeated at Burnley and by West Ham at home though will give Brighton hope that they can follow up their win at Villa Park in November with success at the Amex.
Brighton v Aston Villa head-to-head
There have been 26 meetings between Brighton and Aston Villa and unsurprisingly, it has not been a kind fixture to the Albion through the years.
The Seagulls have just five wins to their name compared to Villa’s 13 with eight draws. Brighton’s most recent home victory over Villa came on December 20th 1980 when Michael Robinson scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 success at the Goldstone Ground. Six months later and Villa were Division One champions and a year after that, they won the 1982 European Cup.
Brighton’s head-to-head record with Aston Villa
Last six meetings
• Aston Villa 1-2 Brighton (Premier League, 21/11/20)
• Brighton 1-1 Aston Villa (Premier League, 18/01/20)
• Aston Villa 2-1 Brighton (Premier League, 19/10/19)
• Brighton 1-3 Aston Villa (League Cup Third Round, 25/09/19)
• Aston Villa 1-1 Brighton (Championship, 07/05/17)
• Brighton 1-1 Aston Villa (Championship, 18/11/16)
One win in the past 12 meetings with Aston Villa does not exactly make good match preview reading from a Brighton point of view. It was an historic occasion in the second city three months ago however as goals from Danny Welbeck and Solly March secured the Albion’s first ever win at Villa Park at the 13th attempt.
Team news
What has made Brighton’s good recent form all the more impressive is that it has been achieved with a lengthy injury list. Adam Webster is the latest player to spend time in the treatment room after limping off with 15 minutes remaining in last week’s 1-1 draw at Burnley.
Graham Potter said in his Aston Villa preview press conference that it would be touch-and-go as to whether Webster makes it, leaving the Brighton boss with a bit of a dilemma about how to replace one of his most important players.
Michal Karbownik had an excellent debut in the FA Cup against Leicester in midweek and he would be the WAB choice to come into the team with either Dan Burn or Joel Veltman giving up their wing back berth to slot into the back three in place of Webster.
Potter though has not displayed any signs of madness for some time now. Perhaps he has been saving it all up to use in one completely insane decision, in which case expect to see Billy Reid coming into the side.
Aston Villa’s danger men
Take your pick from Grealish or Watkins. We all know what the Villa captain normally does against the Albion, whilst Brighton were one of the clubs linked with a move for Watkins in the summer before he ended up at Villa. And we all know what players who the Albion are said to be interested in but do not sign normally do too.
The betting value for Brighton v Aston Villa
Games between Brighton and Villa always tend to be close-run things. You have to go back to April 1982 (one month before Aston Villa won the European Cup) to find the last time that there was a winning margin of more than a single goal in a league game when the Albion took a 3-0 hammering at the Goldstone. The draw therefore represents decent value at 5/2.
If you are expecting the predictable to happen, then Jack Grealish to score anytime for Jack Grealish FC is 17/5 and Watkins is available at 15/8.
Interestingly, Neal Maupay is lower priced than both of those at 5/4. Villa were desperate to sign Maupay in the summer of 2019 but he elected to turn down the 1982 European Cup winners in favour of moving to the 2011 League One champions. That makes this the sort of game Maupay tends to thrive in.
An interesting subplot
Brighton have never completed a league double over Villa, so victory at the Amex would provide another piece of history to go with that first ever win at Villa Park from November.
A good WeAreBrighton.com memory of Aston Villa at home
Home games with Aston Villa have been few and far between making this bit of the match preview difficult – Brighton did pick up a useful point in a 1-1 draw at the Amex on a Friday night in 2016-17 and that was followed by a pretty heavy night ending in Vodka Revs. That is about all we have got.
A bad WeAreBrighton.com memory of Aston Villa at home
It was Villa at home last season when Potter made one of his most bizarre and costly mid-game tactical adjustments. Brighton were 1-0 ahead and looking good whilst Grealish had been kept very quiet by Steve Alzate.
So what did Potter decide to do? Embark on a game of positional musical chairs with 20 minutes to go, of course. Off went striker Aaron Connolly and on came Martin Montoya at right back. Alzate moved into midfield, Aaron Mooy was pushed up front alongside Neal Maupay and within seven minutes of all this fiddling, Grealish escaped Montoya to find an equaliser for the visitors.
Aston Villa’s most famous fan
Only our future king! Prince William is Villa-mad, presumably because he was born in 1982, just a month after Aston Villa won the European Cup.
There must be something about Villa which appeals to those in power. David Cameron (former Prime Minister rather than one-time Brighton centre forward) is also a Villa fan, or so he claimed. In one infamous interview, he ended up confusing them with West Ham United as both clubs wear claret and blue.
Prediction
Brighton have played a lot of football lately and it would not be a surprise if tiredness kicks in. A 1-1 draw to follow up last weekend’s point at Burnley, followed by nine days of rest before the big one against Palace.
