Aston Villa prepares to host Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Monday, 30 December, with the two teams separated by just two points in the standings.
That being said, the Villans are in much better form recently, with four wins in their last six matches in the league, while Brighton have failed to win any of their last six Premier League matches.
With a win over the Seagulls, Aston Villa could jump all the way to the sixth place in the standings, which would put them right in the middle of the race for next season's Champions League, but with Brighton just two points behind them, they aren't too far from battling for European competitions either.
In any case, this can be a very exciting duel and we expect to see a hard-fought game.
How the bookies view it: The home team more likely to get the points
As expected, Aston Villa are seen as the expected winners by the bookmakers. At Boylesports, they are priced at 11/10 odds, while Brighton & Hove Albion's win is priced at 9/4. Meanwhile, a draw in this game would fetch you odds of 5/2 at Boylesports.
Recent head-to-head: Aston Villa with the advantage
With three wins over Brighton in the last five H2H meetings, Aston Villa have done better lately. Their last meeting, however, has ended in a 1-0 win for Brighton at home, which happened last season in the Premier League, but in their first duel last season, Aston Villa thoroughly dominated the Seagulls and won 6-1 at home.
Players to watch: Can Ollie Watkins earn his spot in the starting lineup back?
With the pair of Villa's forwards Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran both doing well this season with seven goals each in the Premier League and with their boss Unai Emery preferring to play with one classic striker, the efficient duo has battled for a place in the starting lineup this entire season.
The English forward had the advantage overall since Duran only started in four games, but all four of his starts came in the last four Premier League rounds. That being said, Duran earned a red card in the team's last outing against Newcastle, so Watkins will get a chance to start in this game and earn back Emery's trust as the better option in the starting lineup. Watkins to score in this game is priced at 5/4 at Boylesports.
Unlike Watkins and Duran, Brighton's two top scorers Danny Welbeck and Joao Pedro have often played together in different systems, but Welbeck will likely remain on the sidelines with an ankle injury for this match.
With that in mind, Joao Pedro will probably be the lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation that Brighton have played in recently, so he's certainly one of the players to watch in this match. For Pedro to score a goal at any time, the odds at Boylesports are 9/4.
Predicted line-ups
The hosts will be without Jhon Duran, as we already mentioned, with the striker having to serve a suspension. Another player who is suspended for this game is Matty Cash, who accumulated too many yellow cards. In addition to these two, Jacob Ramsey remains questionable with a hamstring injury.
On the other hand, Brighton are without injured James Milner and Danny Welbeck, while Evan Ferguson, Ferdi Kadioglu, Adam Webster, and Jack Hinshelwood are all doubts.
Aston Villa: Martinez – Konsa, Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, Digne – McGinn, Kamara, Onana, Tielemans, Rogers – Watkins
Brighton: Verbruggen – Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan – O'Riley, Baleba – Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma – Joao Pedro
Anything else catch the eye?
Given the current form of both teams and the fact that Aston Villa are hosting the game, backing up the Villans at 11/10 odds sounds like a smart bet. Another bet that we like is for both teams to score in this game at 1/2 odds, which has happened in four of the previous five meetings between these two teams.
Lastly, with Duran out and Watkins leading the offence once again for Aston Villa, Watkins to score at any time also sounds like an interesting bet to place. After all, last time when Aston Villa hosted Brighton, the English forward notched a hat-trick, so Watkins scoring once in this duel truly seems like a reasonable outcome.
This English Premier League match between Aston Villa and Brighton will be played on Dec 30, 2024 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Aston Villa vs Brighton prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
