Nine cup finals left for Brighton – starting with Aston Villa
No time to wallow. Brighton may have exited the FA Cup in limp fashion at the quarter final stage in a season which looks set up for an unfashionable club from outside the European Super League Elite Six to make history and win the the world’s greatest cup competition.
But there are now nine cup finals remaining for the Albion. A run of matches in which everything and anything is possible.
Champions League qualification and new record high finish, eclipsing the achievements of Roberto De Zerbi two seasons ago.
Another crack at the Europa League. Or a first try at Europa Conference football and all the fun that would bring of visiting places and teams nobody has previously heard of.
See Chelsea see this season getting to play an Armenian side named after the bloke who built a massive ark for animals in the bible. Noah (A) on a Thursday night? Yes please.
The Premier League standings at this stage are unusually tight. Hence why three different outcomes by the end of May remain plausible. Plus a fourth if you think Brighton might fall away from the European picture completely.
That is not inconceivable with 10th place Bournemouth only three points behind. Going the other way and fourth place Chelsea are just two ahead.
The title may be done and the three promoted clubs seemingly doomed for immediate returns to the Championship. But at least the battle between fourth down to 12th remains interesting. I say 12th, because Crystal Palace are eight behind the Albion.
A gap which could be cut to two if Palace win at Southampton and beat Brighton at Selhurst Park on Saturday, whilst the Albion take nothing from the visit of Aston Villa to the Amex.
All of which nicely underlines why every game from this point on is a cup final. Villa will overtake Brighton in the standings with victory at the Amex.
Fabian Hurzeler has moved the Albion into a fantastic position by going unbeaten since the 7-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest eight weeks ago. Yet the season could all still come crashing down depending on what happens over the next month.
We said the same in 2022-23, of course. Brighton suffered FA Cup penalty shootout heartbreak in even worse fashion that season, losing on penalties in the semi final against Manchester United at Wembley.
That though served as motivation for De Zerbi and Co to charge into the Europa League. Via brilliant results like extracting revenge on United by beating them at the Amex.
Thrashing Wolves 6-0 for the biggest ever top flight win in Albion history. And crushing Arsenal 3-0 at the Emirates to end the Gunners’ title hopes.
Can Hurzeler repeat the feats of De Zerbi? He could not have asked for a much tougher start to the attempted bounce back.
Villa are one of those clubs who seem to have a hoodoo over Brighton. The Albion’s 1-0 win at the Amex last season was their first ever top flight home victory over the Villains. Things are not much better up at Villa Park either, where Brighton have won just once in their history.
Ollie Watkins loves a goal against the Albion. Emiliano Martinez and his shithousery always seem to get the better of Brighton.
Even Tyrone Mings used to turn into prime Franz Beckenbauer, normally responding to those ill-advised chants of “You’re just a shit Lewis Dunk” by helping Villa to victory. With a goal or an assist from centre back. Just to rub salt into the wounds.
Brighton have been dealt a double injury blow with Georginio Rutter and Adam Webster both ruled out potentially for the rest of the season.
Rutter and Webster have been central to the Albion’s eight game unbeaten run in all competitions. Losing them for the run-in could be a disaster.
Or it could mean Dunk coming back in to silence his critics after a disappointing personal campaign so far. Brajan Gruda meanwhile gave his best display in a Brighton shirt after replacing Rutter against Forest on Saturday.
Can he have the same impact another young number 10 did when thrust into the limelight at the tail end of a campaign? Gruda in 2024-25 could be Julio Enciso in 2022-23. And if he fancies cracking in a few goals from 30 yards, even better.
With thousands of tickets listed on the exchange by season ticket holders, the Amex could be sparsely populated despite the clear importance of the Villa game.
Midweek football and the travel problems which come with it have proven a chore too far for many this season, evidenced by the number of empty seats.
Throw in lane closures on the A27 eastbound towards Falmer, and you have cars, busses and coaches getting caught up in the carnage too.
The last time Brighton fans stayed away in such numbers was the FA Cup fourth round tie with Chelsea in February. The Albion went onto win that one 2-1, rewarding those who did turn up a memorable evening.
More of the same against Villa please, Albion, whilst moving a step closer to playing Barcelona next season. Or Bayern Munich. Or Noah.
