Brighton & Hove Albion v Aston Villa Betting Tips

Friday night’s Championship match sees two teams aiming for promotion in the form of Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa go head-to-head.

Brighton are currently second in the Championship after a fantastic run of recent form. They would probably be top if it weren’t for the exploits of Newcastle United who are streets ahead of everybody else.

Manager Chris Hughton knows the heartbreak of missing out on promotion having experienced it with Brighton last season as well as with Birmingham City back in the 2011/12 season. This will make him more determined than ever to get to the promised land on this occasion.

He is certainly giving it a good go with his Seagulls side having lost just two matches this season (one fewer than first place Newcastle). As mentioned on previous Brighton tips, we usually associate Hughton’s teams with attractive football but at Brighton it really is the defence that has allowed the Seagulls to soar so high.

Brighton have the best defensive record in the division and have conceded just nine goals in 13 games. This makes them the only team in the Football League to not be in double figures for goals against. In fact, only Tottenham Hotspur have a better defensive record in English professional football so far this season.

Their incredible defence means that Brighton are incredibly unlikely to lose games and know that they stand a very good chance of winning even if they score just once. This has been demonstrated in their last four matches which have all been wins to nil for Hughton’s men.

However, the Seagulls do not rely completely on their defence and are pretty good in the final third as well with 25 goals scored in the Championship already this season – the joint highest tally in the league.

Hughton’s side have the perfect blend to their team this season and I can certainly see them going up at the end of the season.

Defence is very much the order of the day here with Steve Bruce in the opposition dugout. The new Aston Villa manager has made an excellent start to his Villa Park career and is still undefeated – winning three of his five matches in charge.

Villa had been terrible on the road until Bruce came to the club but in his second game, the former Birmingham City manager saw his side defeat Reading 2-1 to claim a first away victory for Villa in 14 months.

Aston Villa spent more money on players than Real Madrid in the summer and this was mainly on attacking players, however, we saw these purchases bear little fruit until recently. Under Bruce, the Villa attack has improved dramatically with the Lions now scoring in all of Bruce’s five matches in charge.

Whilst Villa have been in excellent form, they are still yet to face one of the division’s top sides during Bruce’s reign and it will be interesting to see how they cope with a tough trip to in-form Brighton.

Having said that, Bruce is a smart manager and is very tactically astute. He is known for being very solid which will help Villa as they go into this match as huge underdogs. Bruce no doubt knows his team’s flaws and I imagine he will be looking to take a point rather than really have a go at Brighton. A draw would certainly be an excellent result at one of the division’s best teams and will show that Villa really have turned a corner under Bruce.

Although Villa have been in good form recently and the Bruce factor does count for a lot, I have to back Brighton here. This is a team who have dropped points at home just twice all season with all of their other home results being victories to nil.

Even though the Villa attack is good, I am not sure it is good enough to cause too much damage to this solid Brighton defence. There is undoubted quality in the front-line, but I’m not convinced the supply from midfield will be good enough to break Brighton down.

The first bet to go for here is a simple ‘Brighton & Hove Albion to Win’ at 10/11. If odds-on isn’t your thing, then backing ‘Brighton to Win to Nil’ looks another decent bet at 15/8.  If Brighton do win at home, as I expect them to here, it generally is without conceding, they really do give little away, and I fancy that to repeat itself on Friday.

Finally, I’m with ‘Brighton & Hove Albion to Win & Over 1.5 Goals’ at 7/5. I am surprised that this relatively safe market is so well priced and would certainly advise punters to go for it. As previously mentioned, I think Brighton will win but doubt it will be a thrashing. This market allows for a relatively likely 2-0 win but also allows for something more unexpected such as a Villa goal or a high-scoring match.

Click here to see more tips.