In the 9th game week of the 2020-21 Premier League season, Aston Villa hosted Brighton and Hove Albion. After a brilliant performance against Arsenal just before the last international break of 2020, that saw them beat the Londoners 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium. Dean Smith’s men will be hoping to continue the momentum.
Brighton, on the other hand, have had some great performances this season but were unable to translate them into wins and have registered only one win in eight appearances this season. They will be coming into the match looking for a crucial 3 points. This article focuses on the tactical analysis of the tactics deployed by both the teams. Let’s get into the analysis.
Lineups
Aston Villa lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Jack Grealish in the left-wing, Chelsea Loanee Ross Barkley in the CAM role and Trezeguet in the right-flank. Dean Smith went with the same line-up that beat Arsenal 3-0 last time around.
Brighton, on the other hand, lined up in a 3-5-2 / 3-4-1-2 formation on the pitch though with possession it often shifted to an asymmetrical 4-4-2 when they built out from the back. The only change from their 0-0 draw to Burnley was Solly March made his way into the starting eleven in place of Dan Burn.
Aston Villa with possession
Aston Villa with possession maintained their 4-2-3-1 shape. Villa have mostly used combination play from their fleet-footed players this season. They would often drag the opponents wide and would try to combine in these regions and make way into the box. Their wide players would generally stay wide to attract opponents and a foul from there would result in set-pieces in dangerous places. Mostly, opponents would get attracted towards Grealish due to his quality and would also try to place more than one player on him. The downside to this is that Grealish can manipulate the opposition and open spaces around him. In the example we can see him staying very wide, attracting both Lallana and Lamptey towards him. Matt Targett then makes a run into the space vacated by Lamptey after a combination play between Grealish and McGinn and Targett making the third-man runs (purple line).
