Aston Villa vs Brighton LIVE: Result and reaction from Premier League fixture today
Villa will move into the top four in the Premier League if they can secure a win
Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free
Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter
Aston Villa host Brighton in their first game back after the international break, with Dean Smith’s side looking to continue their excellent start to the campaign.
Over the break it was one of their stars in Jack Grealish who was making all the headlines, shining with England and quickly becoming a favourite of the national team’s fans.
Domestically, Villa have won five of their seven games so far and a win will take them level with Leicester City, who went into the break top of the table.
Brighton have struggled to find an end product to go with their at-times excellent build-up play and have just one win from eight games so far, 16th in the table at the start of play. Follow the end of Newcastle vs Chelsea and the build-up to the game at Villa Park below:
Newcastle boss Steve Bruce speaks to BT Sport: "In their last two games they've had something like 70% possession. They're a very good side and I expect them to be there or thereabouts. At the moment they've got the balance right, so we're in for a very difficult game."
It’s clear to see why there have been some complaints about Newcastle’s peformance levels this season: they have managed the fewest shots on target per game in the Premier League (2.5), and faced the most shots on goal per game (16.5).
Karl Darlow, who’s been a standout performer so far, will expect to be busy again this afternoon.
Chelsea are the overwhelming favourites today given their recent form. They will briefly climb to the top of the Premier League with a win, and the hope will be that the international break has not interrupted their momentum.
Newcastle, meanwhile, are comfortable in midtable, though performances have perhaps been less convincing than results. Steve Bruce has taken some criticism for his style of play and fans appear to be growing a little impatient.
TEAM NEWS
The most concerning team news for Newcastle is the absence of top scorer Callum Wilson, who’s out with a hamstring injury. Steve Bruce replaces him with Joelinton, while Ciaran Clark, Javier Manquillo and Isaac Hayden also come in after the defeat at Southampton last time out.
For Chelsea, there’s no Thiago Silva after his exertions with Brazil, so Antonio Rudiger comes in for the veteran defender. Other than that, Frank Lampard names an unchanged team from an emphatic 4-1 victory over Sheffield United.
NEWCASTLE VS CHELSEA TEAM NEWS
Newcastle XI: Darlow, Clark, Lascelles, Fernandez, Manquillo, Hayden, S Longstaff, Lewis, Murphy, Saint-Maximin, Joelinton
Chelsea XI: Mendy, James, Rudiger, Zouma, Chilwell, Kante, Kovacic, Mount, Ziyech, Abraham, Werner
NEWCASTLE vs CHELSEA PREDICTED LINE-UPS
NEW: Darlow; Murphy, Schar, Lascelles, Fernandez, Lewis; S Longstaff, Hendrick, Almiron; Saint-Maximin, Wilson
CHE: Mendy; James, Zouma, Silva, Chilwell; Jorginho, Kante, Mount; Ziyech, Abraham, Werner
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies