Roberto De Zerbi will be absent five key players for Brighton’s Premier League match against Aston Villa on Saturday (September 30).
Brighton play Aston Villa in the midday kick-off and have the opportunity to go top of the league for a couple of hours.
Albion were knocked out of the EFL Cup earlier this week by Chelsea, but will try to continue their strong form in the league, having won five of their opening six league games.
Due to muscular ailments, James Milner and Pascal Gross were unable to play in the defeat at Stamford Bridge. In his pre-match press conference, Brighton manager De Zerbi announced that neither player had recovered in time for Saturday’s encounter.
“No, Pascal [Gross] is not available; he cannot play,” De Zerbi stated. We’ll strive to get him in the Europa League, but we’ll see in the coming days. James Milner does not perform as well.”
The Italian coach will also be without Adam Lallana, who has a’small injury,’ according to the 44-year-old.
Evan Ferguson, on the other hand, is expected to be included in the matchday squad after recovering from a week-long sickness.
Due to illness, the Irish striker missed Brighton’s Europa League match against AEK Athens last Thursday and only played 45 minutes of the 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Sunday.
De Zerbi responded, “Evan is good, he working yesterday very well and we have to choose tomorrow.”
De Zerbi, who has made nearly 30 changes in Brighton’s previous four games, is expected to shuffle his pack again ahead of a key Europa League game against Marseille on Thursday.
Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster, and Solly March are set to return to the starting lineup after sitting on the bench against Chelsea on Wednesday.