Unai Emery says Aston Villa must adapt to the varying challenges of European and domestic football ahead of Sunday's Premier League meeting with an "amazing" Brighton at Amex Stadium.
Villa boss Emery has become renowned as somewhat of a European mastermind, having won three Europa Leagues with Sevilla and another when in charge of Villarreal.
Yet the Spaniard will have been disappointed as Villa slipped to a 4-2 home defeat against Olympiacos in Thursday's Europa Conference League semi-final first leg.
Emery acknowledged his Champions League-chasing Villa must prepare differently for different challenges in Europe as they prepare to return to domestic action against Brighton.
He said: "We want to grow up in Europe, playing Europa League and Champions League. I like it.
"The players have to adapt to that situation playing more matches than normal and then try to take experiences and manage those competitions and try to be successful in both."
European football is on the cards next term at Villa Park, too, with Emery's fourth-placed side seven points clear of Tottenham, who have played a game fewer.
Villa can move one step closer to an unlikely Champions League qualification with victory at Brighton, though Emery knows a tough task awaits against Roberto De Zerbi.
"The respect for Roberto de Zerbi is high," he added. "He is an amazing coach, he was playing very good last year.
"It is amazing how they play."
Brighton, meanwhile, are winless in six straight Premier League games and have been demolished by Bournemouth and Manchester City in recent weeks.
That winless run leaves the Seagulls 12th in the table and Brighton head coach De Zerbi is desperate for a response on Sunday, even if they are out of European contention.
"I spoke about motivation not because we want to go on holiday tomorrow or next week," De Zerbi said. "When the target is not so close it is tough to accept for a team who is used to fighting for the important target.
"This season until the Brentford game, until maybe the Burnley game, we have had the chance to qualify for another year in the Europe League.
"I think after that we lost something of energy and of motivation."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Brighton – Joao Pedro
Brighton have not managed a goal from one of their own players since Danny Welbeck scored after just two minutes in the March 31 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield.
De Zerbi may look to Joao Pedro to end that struggle, with the forward's eight league goals leading the club's scoring charts – though he has not scored since March 2 against Crystal Palace.
Aston Villa – Ollie Watkins
Ollie Watkins has scored six goals in his last four Premier League appearances against Brighton, including a hat-trick in Villa’s 6-1 win earlier this season. It’s the most goals he’s netted against an opponent in the competition.
The England striker has also been involved in eight goals in his last five Premier League away games, scoring six and assisting two. His 10 Premier League away goals overall this season is the most of any English player in the competition.
MATCH PREDICTION – ASTON VILLA WIN
The Opta supercomputer struggled to split these two sides in the pre-match predictions, though Villa are the narrow favourites for this one considering recent head-to-head clashes.
Emery's men won 6-1 in this season’s reverse Premier League fixture against Brighton – they last netted more than six against an opponent in 2020-21 vs Liverpool (8), while their most goals against an opponent in a season is 10 against Wimbledon in 1994-95.
Brighton have also lost their last five Premier League matches against Villa by an aggregate score of 14-3. The Seagulls last suffered six defeats in a row against a side between 2019 and 2022 against Man Utd.
Villa, meanwhile, will be looking to register six consecutive top-flight wins against an opponent for the first time since between 2005 and 2010 against fierce rivals Birmingham City.
The visitors may be confident of doing so given De Zerbi's men have lost their last two league games by an aggregate score of 7-0.
The Seagulls last lost more in a row in the competition in March 2022 (run of six – the third of which was at home to Villa), while they last conceded 3+ goals in three successive league matches in October 2011 as a Championship side.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Brighton win – 35.4%
Aston Villa win – 35.7%
Draw – 28.9%
St. Louis City v LA Galaxy: Reus sets sights on silverware after dream start
Marco Reus is desperate to bring silverware to the LA Galaxy after making a flying start to his time in MLS, with St. Louis City the destination for his first road game on Sunday.
Reus registered a goal and an assist on debut last week as the Galaxy beat Atlanta United 2-0, maintaining their grip on top spot in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy are five points clear of local rivals Los Angeles FC at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's trip to St. Louis, who are 13th and 10 points adrift of the playoff picture.
Reus' arrival in Los Angeles has caused plenty of fanfare, but he is focused solely on the team's collective aims.
"It's not about me, it's about the team," he said. "We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.
"Besides the traffic, it's really amazing. The people are so friendly. The weather, it's really nice. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, you start the day differently.
"So I'm really, really happy every morning I come into the dressing room. I'm just happy and excited."
St. Louis played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Portland Timbers last week, twice throwing away a two-goal lead to leave interim coach John Hackworth bewildered.
"Really don't know what to say," Hackworth said. "It's hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up, and then just losing one-versus-one defensive battles.
"Sometimes, the number of goals you give up, or the number of goals you score, can hide a lot of the transition moments.
"An easy way to prevent some of these defensive miscues from happening is to just be better with the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen
Lowen scored his fourth goal of the MLS season last time out, converting from the penalty spot as St. Louis drew 4-4 with the Timbers.
Only Joao Klauss, with five goals, has outscored him for St. Louis this term.
LA Galaxy – Marco Reus
Reus is one of 20 players in MLS history to record a goal and an assist on his regular-season debut.
He is also the fifth Galaxy player to do so, after Steven Gerrard, Andreas Herzog, Giovani dos Santos and Sasha Victorine. No other team have had more than two players achieve the feat.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The Galaxy have won 10 of their last 13 regular-season matches, the first time they have done so in a single season since 2011. LA have not recorded 11 wins in a span of 14 matches within a single regular season in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
It would be no surprise to see the points shared in this one, though. All three meetings between St. Louis and the Galaxy have ended level, all with different scorelines (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).
St. Louis have only won one of the last six matches in which they have held the lead in regular-season play dating back to the beginning of June (four draws, one defeat).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 35.8%
LA Galaxy – 38.1%
Draw – 26.1%
Raphinha hails Barcelona after statement win over Valladolid
Barcelona forward Raphinha believes the team have laid down a statement of their intent by starting the season with four straight wins in LaLiga.
Raphinha scored the first hat-trick of his career and also delivered two assists on Saturday, as Barca crushed Real Valladolid 7-0 at Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick's side already possess a four-point cushion at the top of the table after also recording victories over Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano.
Raphinha believes their results have demonstrated the club got things right in the transfer market, telling Movistar: "Today's game has shown that there is no need for anyone else to come. We are very happy because of that.
"We are in very good shape. The team is working hard. Today's result shows what we are working for.
"We saw that the coach was on the sidelines asking for more goals and that's our mentality.
"We are hungry and want to score as many goals as we can. When we are dominant like we have been, the best way to respect our rivals is not taking the foot off the gas."
Raphinha was one of the players who faced criticism during Barca's trophyless 2023-24 campaign and was rumoured to be on his way out ahead of the new season.
The Blaugrana again battled financial restrictions throughout the window, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to leave in order to secure the registration of new arrival Dani Olmo.
With his future now certain, Raphinha is keen to nail down a starting spot and contribute on a regular basis.
"I don't know if today's was my best game, but it's certainly among my best. I will try to play even better and as much as I can," the Brazilian said.
"I'm very happy to be able to help the team. I feel good. I knew that this season would be very important for me. I'm looking for my best version to help my team-mates and be more confident."
Lazio 2-2 Milan: Leao salvages draw but Rossoneri still winless
Rafael Leao came off the bench to earn Milan a 2-2 draw with Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, but Paulo Fonseca's side are still without a Serie A win this season.
Milan were in front at the break through Strahinja Pavlovic's eighth-minute goal, the Serbian rising highest to power home a header from Christian Pulisic's corner.
However, Lazio hit back in the second half with Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia scoring in quick succession.
Nuno Tavares' first-time ball into the centre was met by the unmarked Castellanos to level in the 62nd minute, then Dia tapped another Tavares cutback home to put the Biancocelesti ahead four minutes later.
Fonseca reacted by sending on four substitutes, and those changes had a swift impact as three of them combined for the leveller.
Theo Hernandez – who joined Leao in being dropped from the start – picked out Tammy Abraham, and his lay-off allowed Leao to escape Tavares to fire past Ivan Provedel.
The game was preceded by an emotional tribute to the man who led Lazio to their last league title, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died at the age of 76 on Monday.
A Lazio shirt bearing the Swede's name was displayed on the home bench, while a banner held up by the home fans read: "You brought us to the top of the world... Have a good trip Mr. Sven."
Data Debrief: Milan's slow start continues
New Milan boss Fonseca is already under pressure after overseeing a return of two points from his first three league games at the helm.
It is the first time the Rossoneri have drawn two of their opening three matches in a Serie A season since 2011-12, when they also drew two and lost one,
They went on to finish second that season, just four points adrift of champions Juventus. If a title challenge is to take place this term, rapid improvements are needed.
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