Champions League-chasing Aston Villa seek to put their indifferent form behind them on Wednesday at the expense of an out-of-sorts Brighton side who have lost seven of the past nine league meetings.
Villa have won just two of their seven most recent midweek Premier League games, though both victories came against Brighton – including by a 4-3 scoreline in December.
Squeaky Brum time
Villa had an eight-point cushion in third place after 20 games, and were 11 clear of fifth. After Tuesday night's results, they are now two points clear of fourth-placed Manchester United, with Chelsea a further point behind.
It's just one win, three goals and five points from as many league games for Unai Emery's side, who are in danger of becoming the first English top-flight team to lose three successive home matches after winning the previous eight.
Following Saturday's hard-fought draw at Bournemouth, Emery told the media: “Two months ago you were saying we are contenders to win the Premier League. Now, two months on, everything I told you two months ago makes sense. Why? Because the Premier League is a very difficult league.”
In truth, the vast majority of Villa supporters never truly believed their side were title contenders this season. Their concern now is whether the team can overcome the destabilising effect of key midfield injuries and find a way to remain firmly in the hunt for Champions League qualification and trophy success via the Europa League or FA Cup.
Comfort can be found in the fact Villa are four wins and nine points better off than at this stage last season, when only goal difference kept them out of the Champions League. They're a mere two points down on the 2023-24 campaign, in which they finished fourth.
Rogers rivalling best young attacking players in Europe
Morgan Rogers has overcome a poor start to the season to become Villa's trump card this season. While Ollie Watkins and Villa's summer attacking reinforcements struggle to provide an end product, Rogers has already equalled last season's tally of eight league goals.
He is also one of only five players still under the age of 24 in Europe's top five leagues to have managed a minimum 20 goals and 20 assists since the start of last season.
Brighton rocked
While Aston Villa are experiencing a wobble, Brighton are suffering a crisis of confidence. Albion were booed off following Sunday's home defeat by Crystal Palace, with some fans calling for head coach Fabian Hurzeler to be sacked.
Brighton, who were restricted to a season's low of 13 touches in the opposition penalty area against Palace, have only beaten Burnley in their past 12 top-flight fixtures.
"We have a loss of self-confidence, and how you get the self-confidence back is only by getting the right results," said Hurzeler, who could give James Milner a Premier League record-equalling 653rd appearance.
Albion have taken just two points from their past five away matches and won three of their 26 Premier League games played on a Wednesday; that 11.5% win rate is the lowest among current sides in the division.
Their loss of form can be traced back to the reverse fixture against Aston Villa on 3 December. Brighton led 2-0 and would have gone third in the table, above Villa, had they won – only to lose 4-3. Their record since then is the third worst in the division.
