Aston Villa target Brighton win as they close in on Champions League dream
As one target was getting a little further away from Villa on Thursday night, another was coming closer.
Unai Emery’s team might have left themselves a mountain to climb in the Europa Conference League after falling to a 4-2 first leg defeat to Olympiacos.
But in terms of the main priority for the season, the Premier League, they are tantalisingly close to claiming a top four finish and the prize of Champions League football next term.
Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat at Chelsea means they remain seven points adrift of Villa, now with only one match in hand. If Villa win at Brighton on Sunday and Spurs lose at Liverpool, the race will be over.
“We are fighting with Tottenham to get fourth position and the Champions League. It is an amazing season, if we are finishing like that,” remarked Emery on Friday.
“There is still work to do and we are very motivated because we have in front of us very important matches. On Sunday is Brighton and next Thursday in Athens.
“Sunday is a very important match to try and get closer to our first objective in the Premier League.”
Tottenham’s defeat had certainly not gone unnoticed by Villa’s players as they filed out of the ground on Thursday, reflecting on a night of frustration while also considering what still lies ahead.
Douglas Luiz was one of several to mention the Spurs result without being prompted.
“It is more confidence for us,” remarked the Brazilian, who will be desperate to bounce back from one of the toughest evenings in his Villa career.
A trip to the Amex Stadium, on paper, would appear the perfect tonic. Villa have never lost at the venue in five visits and will face a Brighton team in worse form than anyone in the league bar Sheffield United.
The Seagulls looked like being serious contenders for Champions League themselves when they won five of their first six matches but a 6-1 hammering at Villa Park in late September, courtesy of an Ollie Watkins hat-trick, was a blow from which they have never properly recovered in a campaign blighted by injury and uncertainty over the future of head coach Roberto De Zerbi. The Italian is thought to be a leading contender to replace Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
Emery, a self-confessed fan of Brighton’s “beautiful style”, is unlikely to take them lightly.
“The respect for them is high,” he explained. “De Zerbi is an amazing coach who was playing with very good results last year.
“This year they changed some players and it is normal to need time to get again the best performances and the same as last year.
“It is amazing how they were playing and how they are trying to play as well. The result is not the same but I appreciate them a lot, I appreciate De Zerbi, I appreciate how they were playing and their style.
“It is very difficult. We will have to compete well and try and impose our position, our gameplan.
“We have to be ready and focused 100 per cent if we want to get something there.
“Their style is a very nice style, a very beautiful style for people who like to watch football. Even myself, I like to watch Brighton matches. Always you can learn something from them.”
The turnaround for Villa is tight but these are the occasions in which Emery’s team have frequently excelled, making a mockery of the almost accepted view playing in European competition damages your league form.
From 12 league matches on Sunday after Conference League exploits on Thursday nights, Villa have taken 24 points, losing only twice.
“The aim, firstly, it is to try and focus again on the Premier League, quick, after we analyse with the coaches the match we played yesterday,” said Emery.
“Then it is a case of quickly analysing with the players the match we are going to face on Sunday against Brighton.
“As well it is recover quick full energy. Our motivation, of course, is high.”
