If someone told Unai Emery at the start of this season that his Aston Villa team would finish above Brighton, would he consider it a successful campaign? Emery chuckles under his breath ever so slightly, sufficient time to think of a quip. “They have started very strong,” he replies, smiling.
The inference is there and the reality is Villa and Brighton, who meet on Saturday lunchtime and were separated by a point last season, are trying to outdo each other. And, in other ways, learn from one another given the respect between Emery and Roberto De Zerbi, the Brighton head coach reportedly coveted by Real Madrid. “I always think they are coming here in England, the best coaches of the world, and De Zerbi is one of them.”
