Brighton vs Aston Villa Prediction 05.05.2024

• Competition: England - Premier League
• Date: Sunday, 5th, May 2024
• Kickoff: 14:00 UK / 15.00 CEST
• Venue: Amex Stadium (Brighton)

Aston Villa aims to take a significant step towards securing a top-four finish in the Premier League as they travel to the Amex Stadium to face the out-of-form Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday afternoon.

Unlike their previous fruitful Premier League campaign, where they secured a sixth-place finish and thus earned their first-ever appearance on the continental stage, the Seagulls are performing well below par this term, as evidenced by their unremarkable 12th position, adding insignificant 44 points to their tally. A dramatic slump in form during the final stretch of the campaign has seen Brighton drop out of contention for European spots much earlier than anticipated, and with a 10-point gap behind Man Utd in sixth, they have nothing left but to play for pride in the remaining matches. The latest league outing sees De Zerbi's men returning bruised from their visit to Vitality, having suffered a 0-3 hammering from Bournemouth, denting their pursuit of a third consecutive top-half finish.

Merely five seasons since their return from the Championship via the playoffs, Aston Villa has caused a stir in this season's Premier League thanks to the magician Unai Emery, who is on the brink of bringing Champions League football back to Villa Park for the first time since 1982-83, when the competition was known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup. Birmingham-based club, though, experienced a rollercoaster of emotions on Thursday night, as the Villans surprisingly suffered a 2-4 thrashing at the hands of Greek giants Olympiacos in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals, but they managed to overshadow that setback with the joyous news that their chances for a top-four finish significantly surged after their closest pursuers, Spurs, faltered 0-2 at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge.

Brighton Hove & Albion vs Aston Villa Betting Tips: UNDER 3.5

While the Villans will have their minds on the Europa League semifinal second leg tie in Piraeus, where they face the daunting task of overturning a two-goal deficit, hosts Brighton enter this clash in complete disarray and without any ambitions, which could ultimately result in a rather subdued contest at the Amex, where we predict a low scoring rate. Since securing a pointless 1-0 victory over Roma on their way to crashing out of the Europa League quarterfinals in mid-March, Brighton has plummeted in form, earning a paltry two points from seven Premier League matches.

Even more concerning, De Zerbi has overseen his side display a blunt edge in front of goal lately, finding the net just once in their last five Premier League contests, with that solitary goal coming courtesy of a Muric own goal in a 1-1 draw against Burnley in mid-April. Their Sunday opponent Aston Villa have seldom been able to shake the net more than twice on foreign soil, doing so only in four out of their last 11 visists in any format, with three of them ending goalless. The 3.5-goal barrier has proven too high for Brighton in most of their recent EPL clashes, with eight out of nine matches failing to produce more than three goals. Based on all of this, we believe that the resolute Villa could penetrate Brighton's shaky defense and come out on the winning side with a narrow margin in what could be a low-scoring affair.