Top-flight clash in the Carabao Cup
The Villains travel to Brighton to face off against the Seagulls in the cup barely anyone cares about, the Thai energy drink sponsored Carabao Cup to be precise. The only time this competition is anywhere near interesting is when the PL teams face off but i'm not full-heartedly sure that can be said about this one but read on anyway!
Brighton & Hove Albion
Graham Potters men kicked off the season with a bright 3-0 win away at Watford but have since then drawn 3 and lost 2 of their last 5 Prem games. Their only win within that period was a very narrow triumph in the Carabao cup against League one outfit Bristol Rovers which will hardly have Villa shaking in their boots.
The Seagulls have in fact only won 2 out of their last 18 competitive games and given their not so advantageous league situation it remains to be seen how seriously coach Potter takes this competition but my bet is that they will be rotating very heavily (like every other Prem squad to be fair).
The problem with this however is that Brighton's injury list is rather long meaning that they will be forced to rotate their youth along with the fringe players and no one has a bleeding idea how that will go, but probably not too well.
Aston Villa
The Villain's travel to Brighton off the back of a very clumsy 3-2 defeat against a 10-man Arsenal side after having lead the game twice. Their campaign has not gone to plan so far after having spent in excess of 100 pounds and they can currently be found 3rd last with a win, a draw and 4 defeats to their name.
To be frank, their stats are rather misleading given that they have performed much better than their table situation suggests. Another important factor is that 2 of their defeats came against top 6 opposition which is to be expected.
They have real quality in their ranks (even if they will most likely rotate) and do not have the same injury-issues their blue and white opposition have which is a huge one-up regarding these cup games.
Betting tip
I like the way Villa have performed so far and given that they are in a better place regarding injuries i will be backing an Aston Villa Draw or Win at 71/100 with Bethard.
