Brighton look to continue their impressive form of late when they welcome Aston Villa to the Amex on Saturday

Brighton will look to put their FA Cup knockout blow behind them and continue on from their five game unbeaten run in the Premier League.

The Seagulls saw their FA Cup run ended by Leicester City in midweek. Kelechi Iheanacho netted a late winner for the Foxes in the last seconds of the game to knock Graham Potter’s side out of the competition.

The hosts head into the weekend 15th with ten points separating them and 18th placed Fulham, who are away to Everton next. Meanwhile, Aston Villa look to be eyeing up a European position, sitting in ninth, only five points behind fourth spot Liverpool having played two fewer games.

Brighton have been on an excellent winning run and have equalled a Premier League club record of five successive matches without defeat, including back-to-back wins against Tottenham and reigning champions Liverpool, whilst recently being held to a 1-1 draw against Burnley at Turf Moor. Lewis Dunk headed his side into the lead before the Clarets equalised in the second half.

The visitors bounced back from defeat to West Ham with a 1-0 victory at home to Arsenal last weekend. Ollie Watkins scored his tenth goal of the season to give Dean Smith’s side all three points.

Jack Grealish will hope he can continue his great form against the Seagulls having scored four goals in his last five appearances in all competitions. The England international will hope he can punish a Brighton defence who are looking to keep three home clean sheets in a row this season, a feat not achieved since 1979.

Both these sides were fighting for their lives last season, but now have they been playing some entertaining football and are arguably two of the more exciting teams to watch in the Premier League.

Graham Potter’s men will look to make it back-to-back home wins having only picked up one Premier League win this season, whilst Aston Villa, who have been strong on their travels, picking up 19 points from 11 games, will look to trouble their opponents on Saturday.

The South Coast side are attempting to complete a league double over their opponents for the first time. The sides met earlier in the season where Brighton recorded their first win at Villa Park in their history. Although there was controversy with Dean Smith’s side seeing a last-minute penalty overturned after a VAR review.

Aston Villa controlled parts of the game but in the end, Brighton were simply more clinical, with Villa’s threat dropping off after they went behind for the second time. The Villans will hope they can make amends and respond.

Albion will be without Tariq Lamptey, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Solly March who are all unavailable. Adam Webster is a fitness doubt after he sustained an ankle injury against Burnley but Davy Propper could be involved having recovered from a groin problem.

Aston Villa have no new fitness concerns. Kortney Hause and Wesley are both still out with long term injuries.

Morgan Sanson could make his debut for Villa after his move from Marseille for £14 Million. The French international will hope he can be included in the squad.

A win for the home side will move them into 14th, above Wolves and 13 points clear of the relegation zone. As for  the visitors, they could leapfrog Everton in seventh, just two points off the Champions League places, depending on how other results go.