Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa will both be out to end two-game losing runs in the Premier League when they lock horns at the Amex Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Seagulls have had a week to recover from their 3-0 humbling at the hands of Burnley, while Steven Gerrard most recently oversaw a 1-0 home defeat to Watford.
Match preview
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A battle between Wout Weghorst and Dan Burn would have been one for the ages, but with Brighton allowing the 6ft 7in defender to head for Newcastle United, Burnley's new talisman produced the goods alongside his teammates on the Amex turf.
Weghorst broke the deadlock with a powerful drive on February 19 before some strong hold-up play allowed him to find Josh Brownhill for Burnley's second goal, and veteran attacker Aaron Lennon rounded off a storming Clarets performance in the second half.
Two consecutive defeats without a single goal has done Brighton's bid for a top-half finish no favours, but the Seagulls have managed to maintain their ninth-placed ranking for the time being as a resurgent Southampton sit just one point behind.
The future of Graham Potter will continue to be called into question while Brighton seek to establish themselves as a top-10 Premier League side, but points at home have been difficult to come by, with Brighton winning just once in their last nine Amex outings.
Indeed, only four teams in Leeds United, Burnley, Watford and Norwich City have fared worse at home than resident draw specialists Brighton this season, but life at Villa under Steven Gerrard may not be as rosy as initially anticipated.
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Despite sending shockwaves with a mammoth January transfer window, Gerrard has not seen that translate into consistent performances on the pitch, with his side suffering back-to-back 1-0 defeats to relegation candidates in Newcastle United and Watford.
While the Lions struggled to break down a dogged Hornets defence, Watford's main man Emmanuel Dennis powered home a bullet header from Ismaila Sarr's cross in the 78th minute to leave the top half of the table more out of reach for their disappointed hosts.
With only one win from their last seven in the Premier League, Gerrard's Villa head into the weekend down in 13th place - five points off 10th spot occupied by Southampton - and a seven point gap to the drop zone is far from comfortable either.
It is inconceivable to imagine the heavy-spending Lions being dragged into a relegation battle, but they have made a habit of winning one and then losing one away from home recently, which is a good omen based on their recent defeat at the home of Newcastle United.
While Brighton have played out stalemate after stalemate this season, Villa have not drawn away from home in the league since March 2021, and the Lions did ease to a 2-0 win over Potter's men at Villa Park back in November.
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Team News
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Brighton will be boosted by the return of Lewis Dunk from his one-game suspension, as Joel Veltman prepares to drop out of the defence, but Potter has conceded that Adam Webster has suffered a setback.
Enock Mwepu and Jeremy Sarmiento remain absent for the Seagulls, who may consider some changes in the final third in a bid to end their disappointing scoreless run.
Leandro Trossard will certainly expect to return to the first XI this weekend, with Solly March and Pascal Gross also waiting in the wings for the hosts.
As for Aston Villa, Gerrard also has a key central defender returning from suspension in the form of Ezri Konsa, who is sure to displace Calum Chambers in the heart of the rearguard alongside Tyrone Mings.
Chambers is more than capable of filling a midfield role if Gerrard demotes Douglas Luiz to the bench, while Bertrand Traore and Marvelous Nakamba represent the visitors' only two injury concerns.
It would not be surprising to see Gerrard immediately recall Ollie Watkins in place of Danny Ings, and Leon Bailey could provide some much-needed pace against Tariq Lamptey.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Lamptey, Dunk, Duffy, Cucurella; Lallana, Bissouma, Moder; Gross; Trossard, Maupay
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; McGinn, Luiz, Ramsey; Bailey, Watkins, Coutinho
We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-2 Aston Villa
The less said about Brighton's home form the better, but Villa have been far from consistent on the road as well this term, which should make for an intriguing battle against two sides relatively low on confidence.
While Dunk and Webster's returns cannot be understated, the options for change on Villa's bench do favour the visitors, though, and we can envisage the Lions returning to winning ways to close the gap on the top half, but it will not be a cakewalk.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Brighton & Hove Albion win with a probability of 40.08%. A win for Aston Villa had a probability of 32.41% and a draw had a probability of 27.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Brighton & Hove Albion win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.56%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.33%) and 2-0 (7.41%). The likeliest Aston Villa win was 0-1 (10.13%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.99%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 5.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Aston Villa would win this match.
