Aston Villa v Brighton preview: Unai Emery demanding focus for Villa’s fast turnaround
Unai Emery has urged Villa’s players to refocus quickly as attention turns to tomorrow’s Premier League clash with Brighton.
The visit of the Seagulls comes barely 60 hours after Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup exit to Everton and represents the tightest turnaround for Emery’s team during a hectic run of four matches in 10 days, which began with the Europa Conference League loss to Legia Warsaw.
Disappointing though the manner of defeat to Toffees might have been, Emery has made no secret the Premier League is the club’s top priority this season and Villa enter the match targeting a third straight win in the competition, having beaten Crystal Palace and Chelsea since the international break.
“We didn’t win (on Wednesday) and we have to move on quickly because the next match is Saturday. We have to start facing the next challenge,” said the boss.
“We made some mistakes which were not normal. We tried to have a plan in 90 minutes to be competitive and get a win. Now we have to focus on Saturday.”
While Emery defended his decision to make changes against Everton, the fact Villa’s head coach admitted to trying to manage players’ workload with one eye on the weekend does place just a little more pressure on now delivering a performance.
With Leon Bailey likely missing with the injury which forced his first-half withdrawal in midweek and Jacob Ramsey a doubt due to a minor niggle, the smart money is on Villa reverting to the same XI which started the last two league wins.
“I don’t want to use all our effort with the players each match, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday,” explained Emery. “That’s the reason why we wanted to keep a balance with other players (on Wednesday).
“That is the reason I made some changes and tried to manage 90 minutes, trying to reduce the effort with some players.”
Emery will hope those measures allow his team to now produce the “best performance and effort” needed to get the best of a Brighton side who have begun the season in impressive fashion, winning five of their first six league matches to sit three points above Villa in the table.
That said, they too are being challenged by the same busy schedule and – just like Villa – have experienced both European disappointment and an early Carabao Cup exit in the last week and a bit, the latter after boss Roberto De Zerbi made seven changes ahead of a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Villa’s loss to Everton was their first at home since February and snapped a 10-match winning streak in front of their own supporters in all competitions, though tomorrow still represents the chance to set a new postwar best benchmark of 10 consecutive home league victories.
Their record against Brighton is strong, with the Seagulls 2-1 behind closed doors win at Villa Park in November 2020 their sole triumph in the last 16 meetings between the clubs, dating back to 1980.
Comment Guidelines
Iconic Media encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.