Brighton v Aston Villa: Premier League – live

It’s hard not to look at this match and ponder the managers. Little over a year ago, Roberto De Zerbi was the coming man, arriving to an already decent side and immediately turning it into more, the goals that seemed so hard to find under Graham Potter suddenly arriving more freely, along with some lovely football.

That was then; now, though, not so much. Perhaps Brighton finally fleeced richer rivals to such extent they could no longer simply rebuild and perhaps they didn’t have the squad toi cope with Europe, but also, perhaps opponents have caught on to their press-baiting style, which can be just as tedious to watch as it can be a buzz. So they find themselves 13th in the table – last term they finished sixth – and suddenly De Zerbi is as close to bald fraud as to epochal genius.

Unai Emery, on the other hand, is now utterly ensconced among the elite managers. His travails at PSG and particularly Arsenal, though reasonably attributable to messy circumstances beyond his control, might also be used as evidence he is unsuited to the richest clubs. But at taking mid-ranking clubs to glory seemingly beyond them, he is the best around, and Villa look like another perfect fit.

As such, they need just six points from their final three games to be certain of competing in next season’s Champions League, but with Palace away and Liverpool home to come, those will not be easily achieved. They’ll want to put a dent in things here and now.

Kick-off: 2pm BST