Brighton and Aston Villa lock horns in a key clash for the Premier League‘s European spots on Wednesday, 2nd April, at 7:45pm (UK time).
The Seagulls are seventh in the table but just two points behind Chelsea in fourth and one adrift of City in fifth. Villa, meanwhile, are only two points and two places further back in a tight top-half battle.
John McGinn to Commit 2+ Fouls (19/20 with BetMGM)
John McGinn averages a healthy 1.9 fouls per 90 minutes in the Premier League for Aston Villa in the Premier League this season and at just under even money he looks a strong bet to clear the 2+ line against Brighton. This bet has won in five of the Scot’s last six league outings with totals of 2,3,5,1,4 and 2.
Ollie Watkins anytime goalscorer (15/8 with Paddy Power)
Ollie Watkins has scored more goals against Brighton (7) than any other opponent during his career so far. The Villa frontman has netted in five of his last six against the Seagulls, including in the reverse fixture when these two met at Villa Park earlier in the campaign.
How both teams go into Brighton vs Aston Villa
After a rough patch, Brighton have embarked on another strong run of performances, taking 13 points from their last five games, including a 2-2 comeback draw against Manchester City last time out — also beating Newcastle 2-1 in the FA Cup during that time. That has lifted the Seagulls to seventh in the table, just a point behind City in fifth, which is highly likely to be a Champions League spot come the end of the season.
Aston Villa have also overcome some difficulties to get their season back on track, losing just one of their last nine matches across all competitions, while they’ve taken eight points from their last five league matches — with one of the draws coming against leaders Liverpool. Villa are only two points behind Brighton and remain well in the race for Champions League qualification, although they can of course still achieve that by winning the competition.
Brighton team news
Ferdi Kadioglu, Igor, Tariq Lamptey, Jason Steele, Georginio Rutter, Solly March, Joel Veltman and James Milner are all sidelined for this match.
Aston Villa team news
Ross Barkley is Aston Villa’s only confirmed absentee, while Leon Bailey will be assessed after picking up a knock.
Brighton vs Aston Villa head-to-head
Aston Villa have lost just one of their last seven meetings with Brighton, although they’ve won neither of the last two.
| Brighton vs Aston Villa H2H | |||||||
| Date | Score | Competition | |||||
| 30/12/24 | Aston Villa 2-2 Brighton | Premier League | |||||
| 05/05/24 | Brighton 1-0 Aston Villa | Premier League | |||||
| 30/09/23 | Aston Villa 6-1 Brighton | Premier League | |||||
| 28/05/23 | Aston Villa 2-1 Brighton | Premier League | |||||
| 13/11/22 | Brighton 1-2 Aston Villa | Premier League | |||||