Aston Villa v Brighton

Aston Villa vs Brighton Preview

The Saturday lunchtime kick-off features this tasty looking fixture between Aston Villa and Brighton at Villa Park with both sides sitting in the top six of the early Premier League standings and both teams in fine form heading into this clash.

Having picked up two wins on the trot immediately after the international break, Aston Villa have climbed up into sixth place where they trail upcoming visitors, Brighton, by just a three-point margin and recent wins against Crystal Palace and most impressive of all, a 1-0 win away at Stamford Bridge over big-spending Chelsea, underline Villa's threat heading into this weekend's action.

A sustained impressive sequence of results have once again lifted Unai Emery's side into possible early contention for another European appearance for next season and the bigger picture shows that the west midlands club have lost just twice in their previous nine games in the English top flight, both of which were away from home.

On home soil at Villa Park, the hosts have racked up a staggering nine wins on the trot which includes a 2-1 victory over upcoming visitors, Brighton, in their last meeting towards the end of last season's Premier League campaign.

Brighton continue to go from strength to strength under Italian manager Roberto de Zerbi as The Seagulls collected a third league win on the trot in the Premier League on Sunday against south-coast rivals, Bournemouth, with a 3-1 win at their AMEX Stadium which followed previous victories against the likes of Newcastle United and Manchester United.

The visitors have now won five of their last six matches in the English top flight so they too will be in confident mood ahead of this lunchtime encounter at Villa Park but although The Seagulls have been impressive so far this season in the early stages of the new term, they have had a few problems on the road in recent times.

Four wins and four defeats suggest Brighton are a 50/50 chance at producing a positive result here in the west midlands on Saturday and despite recording good wins at Chelsea, Arsenal, Wolves and Manchester United, defeats at Tottenham, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United and Aston Villa perhaps throws doubt upon Brighton's chances again at Villa Park.

Aston Villa v Brighton Verdict

Aston Villa have kept six clean sheets within their nine-game winning streak at Villa Park and their solid defensive unit could well be the difference between two sides that enjoy going forward and producing attacking football.

Indeed, it's been Aston Villa who have held the upper hand over Brighton in previous exchanges as the hosts are unbeaten in the last six meetings and having won four of these six games, Villa might hold the edge again, while nine of the last 10 meetings have resulted in Under 3.5 goals scored.

Therefore, our main bet will be Under 3.5 goals @ 1.72

Other side bets worth considering:

Aston Villa win & Under 3.5 goals @ 4.33

Correct score: Aston Villa 2-0 @ 19.00