Kick-off: 2000, 13/02/2021
Stadium: Amex Stadium
TV: Sky Sports
Brighton and Aston Villa have both picked up a decent haul of Premier League points in recent weeks and an entertaining contest could be on the cards at Amex Stadium.
Albion have registered three wins and a couple of draws from five top-flight fixtures, while Villa have also claimed a trio of victories during the same period.
Past head-to-head meetings have been pretty open, with both teams scoring in each of four encounters over the last 17 months.
Odds of 13/20 for that bet to come in again are a bit short, so we’ll take 4/5 for over 2.5 goals combined for our first Brighton vs Aston Villa prediction.
A Look At Brighton and Hove Albion’s Betting Odds
Brighton bowed out of the FA Cup when beaten 1-0 at Leicester in midweek, but were the better team for long periods, despite making seven changes.
“Our performance was really good, we more than matched them,” said Graham Potter. “We’re happy about that but disappointed with the result.
“The overall performance was strong against a good Leicester team. We were the better team over the 90 minutes. We did a lot of things well but it’s hard to think about that.”
Potter will bring back a number of regular starters for this contest and they have been in fine form of late.
Over the past month, the Seagulls have claimed upset wins over Leeds, Tottenham and Liverpool, as well as drawing at Burnley.
Their only disappointing result was a goalless stalemate with Fulham at this venue, but subsequently moving 10 points clear of the drop zone should allow Albion to be more positive here.
Pascal Gross has not scored since early December, but his overall play has been excellent, with a couple of assists in the last three league games.
Looking at the Brighton vs Aston Villa odds, we feel 4/1 for the German playmaker to end his goal drought is fair value.
Last Brighton line-up: Walton, White, Dunk, Karbownik, Burn, Gross, Lallana, Moder, Alzate, Tau, Zeqiri.
A Look At Aston Villa’s Betting Odds
Villa’s form has been a bit up and down but last Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Arsenal followed up other recent wins versus Newcastle and Southampton.
Dean Smith’s side are ninth in the table and could actually rise as high as fourth if winning games in hand over teams above them.
Ollie Watkins grabbed the crucial strike against the Gunners and has scored in four of the last five games.
Since being signed from Brentford for £28million in September, the 25-year-old has netted a dozen times in all competitions, with 10 coming in the league.
Smith said of Watkins: “I think every week we’re speaking very well of his performance and that’s what he brings to the team.
“He’s selfless in terms of what his work-rate is. He’s such a good footballer but a good team-mate as well.
“It’s no surprise to me he has got into double figures already in the Premier League in 21 games.
“The football that Brentford were playing last season was Premier League football, Premier League ready, so I knew he was ready to come in.”
Watkins has opened the scoring on three occasions of late, so let’s add 9/2 for him to break the deadlock again here to our Brighton vs Aston Villa betting tips.
For those wanting a correct score wager, we’re going for a 2-1 away win at 9/1.
Last Villa line-up: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Grealish, Nakamba, Barkley, Watkins, Traore.
Additional stats
Last result:
Leicester 1-0 BRIGHTON
ASTON VILLA 1-0 Arsenal – Ollie Watkins
Head-to-head: Aston Villa 1-2 Brighton, Brighton 1-1 Aston Villa, Aston Villa 2-1 Brighton, Brighton 1-3 Aston Villa
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