In the opening game of the EPL, Brighton met a strong challenge from Ashton Villa at home. Brighton is like a deflated ball, and their form is in the doldrums. Villa, on the other hand, had the initiative to finish in the top four and had to go all out. In recent years, they have battled with the challenges of survival - food, shelter and so on - and now the spotlight is on whether the Seagulls can bounce back.
Brighton, who were surging at the beginning of the season, are clearly struggling to cope with a multi-line campaign as injuries are gradually mounting, exposing a lack of bench depth. With the Seagulls in front of us, we can't help but ponder whether they can escape their European dominance. Even if they are eliminated in March, the situation seems even worse. In their last six matches, they lost only two to four but failed to win one. Four of those games have been crushing defeats. This is certainly ironic for the attack-minded coach Dissabi and exposes his current predicament.
Villa went down 2-4 to Olympiakos in the first leg of the Europa League top four and are back for the second leg in midweek. Does coach Emery think the Europa League title is a ticket to the top four? Apparently, Emeli has had the answer in his mind for a long time.
In the middle of last week, Villa lost to Chelsea at home against Tottenham Hotspur, while 5-goaler Tottenham gained 7 points. Next up, they have two exciting matches against Liverpool and Manchester City. As long as Villa performs well in winning the Bourbon points, the ticket to the next UEFA Europa League may already be settled. Moreover, Villa have won 14 goals in their last five league matches, showing great offensive firepower. Is this match in doubt for a draw? The answer will be revealed in the match.
