Brighton head into the match round in seventh place in the Premier League, two points and two places above Villa. The two teams had contrasting weekends with the hosts exiting the FA Cup on a penalty shoot-out against Nottingham Forest while Villa eased into the semi-finals with a convincing win at Preston.

If you ignore the Merseyside derby, Wednesday evening’s Premier League fixtures have a feel of ‘let’s hide these fixtures away on a midweek, so nobody really notices them’.

Brighton vs Aston Villa is an eye-catching game with both sides pushing for a European place and possibly even Champions League qualification. They had contrasting FA Cup weekends, with Villa easing beyond Preston and Brighton suffering penalty pain against Nottingham Forest.