Villa team news: no fresh injury concerns

Albion take on Aston Villa this Sunday as we look to secure a fourth consecutive victory in all competitions.

Having gone five games without a win, Roberto De Zerbi has since enjoyed victories over Chelsea and Wolves in the Premier League before Wednesday night’s 3-1 Carabao Cup triumph at Arsenal.

We sit sixth heading into the final round of fixtures before the league pauses until December 26 because of the World Cup. 

Three points on Sunday for Albion could lift them up to fifth in the table, while Villa could move up two places into 11th.

Unai Emery got his reign as Villa head coach off to a perfect start last Sunday with a 3-1 victory Manchester United after the former Arsenal and Villareal boss took over following the departure of Steven Gerrard.

Villa had only enjoyed two wins in their opening 11 league games under Gerrard, but fears of a relegation scrap have been eased by victories over Brentford (4-0) and United.

Team news

Roberto De Zerbi confirmed he has no fresh injury concerns in his press conference on Friday afternoon.

"Our focus is on Aston Villa," the head coach said. "We want to win the game, it's going to be difficult, but we have the potential to win because we're in a good moment. Aston Villa won against United last Sunday and I watched the game, they have good players."

Our last meeting

Albion were in the middle of their worst Premier league run since their return to the top-flight, when Villa came to the Amex in February. Goals from Matt Cash and Olly Watkins secured all three points for the visitors to the Amex, with Albion suffering three more defeats after that before their excellent end of season run saw them take 18 points from nine games.

Villa player to watch

While the South American creativity of Philippe Coutinho and Emi Buendia will no doubt be utilised by Emery in the coming months, Leon Bailey may well be the player he is counting on the most. The Jamaican has scored four league goals since arriving at Villa Park in summer 2021 and each of which have come under a different manager. Three of those have come this season though, including the opening goal in the 3-1 win over Manchester United last Sunday. His pace, dribbling and finishing will be something Albion will have to keep tabs on.

The stats

Brighton have won just one of their six Premier League meetings with Aston Villa (D2 L3), winning 2-1 at Villa Park in November 2020.

Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last six away league games against Brighton (W2 D4), since a 1-0 loss in their 1980-81 title-winning season. Having won 2-0 in this fixture last term, the Villans are looking to pick up back-to-back away league wins against Brighton for the first time.

Brighton have won back-to-back Premier League games, having won none of their first five under Roberto De Zerbi (D2 L3). The Seagulls haven't won three consecutive league games since October 2018 under Chris Hughton.

Aston Villa have won two of their last three Premier League games (L1), as many as they had in their previous 15 (D5 L8). They're looking to pick up back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time since May.

Both Brighton and Aston Villa have scored a league-high six Premier League goals in the opening 15 minutes of games this season. For Aston Villa, it accounts for 43% of their total goals scored this season, and with five of those six strikes coming in their last three games.

Aston Villa are winless in their last eight Premier League away games (D2 L6), with only Nottingham Forest (1) scoring fewer on the road than the Villans this term (3). They last had a longer run without an away win in the top-flight between August 2015 and September 2019 (21 games).

Aston Villa got off to a winning start under manager Unai Emery, beating Manchester United 3-1 at Villa Park last week. However, the Spaniard was winless in his last five away Premier League games with the Gunners (D2 L3).

Adam Lallana opened the scoring in Albion's 3-2 win against Wolves last time out, ending a run of 42 Premier League games without a goal. He last scored more than once in a single season back in 2016-17 (8), while he last scored in consecutive league games in December 2016.

There are just two players to have had 10+ shots on target without scoring a Premier League goal so far this term – Brighton pair Solly March (11) and Danny Welbeck (10).

Jacob Ramsey got a goal and an assist in Aston Villa's 3-1 win against Manchester United last time out, registering as many goal involvements in that game as he had in his previous 21 Premier League appearances combined (1 goal, 1 assist).

Match officials

Referee: Chris Kavanagh.

Assistants: Dan Cook, Dan Robathan.

Fourth official: Graham Scott.

VAR: Jarred Gillett.

Assistant VAR: James Mainwaring.