Brighton host Aston Villa on Sunday with the Seagulls

Roberto De Zerbi seems to have checked out at Brighton and so have his team. They lost 3-0 at Bournemouth last weekend and they have failed to scored in eight of their 15 Premier League games in 2024. That was after scoring in a joint-high 39 different games in 2023.

 The regression has been stark since the Seagulls went out of the Europa League and with De Zerbi looking very likely to move on this summer, there is a lot of uncertainty around the Seagulls. Injuries have hit them hard all season long and Brighton's European exploits stretched their small squad to its limits as they've won just three of their last 15 Premier League games.

 The exact opposite is true for Villa as Unai Emery's side are closing in on qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. After their 2-2 draw at home to Chelsea last weekend they sit fourth in the Premier League table and have a seven-point lead over Tottenham with three games to go (Spurs have two games in-hand) as their incredible season continues.

 They're also enjoying themselves in Europe as this game is sandwiched in-between their Europa Conference League semifinals against Olympiacos. Villa hammered Brighton 6-1 in the return game at Villa Park earlier this season and have won five in a row against Brighton, outscoring them 14-3.

The injury list below is brutal for Brighton with so many starters missing for a large chunk of the season. We can point to that for their poor 2024 so far but they still have a lot of quality players available and the lack of urgency and confidence is probably down to a combination of tiredness and Roberto De Zerbi likely leaving this summer. Read More About Brighton host Aston Villa on Sunday

Vincent Kriechmayr wins downhill to secure speed double at Alpine Worlds

 Vincent Kriechmayr was unbeatable on the brand-new Vertigine race piste in Cortina d'Ampezzo to win downhill gold at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships on Sunday (14 February), completing the speed double. Having won Watch World Juniors hockey online  the Super-G on Thursday, the Austrian came into the race full of confidence. He picked bib number one, becoming the first man to race a downhill on the Vertigine in competition, and dominated 2021 World Junior Alpine Skiing Championships Live  in clear conditions with hard, grippy snow. With last year's World Cup Finals (which should have served as a test event for the piste) cancelled, the field only had two training runs earlier this week to get used to the 2610m-long course, with its average slope of 31 per cent.

Click Here to Watch Live

Click Here to Watch Live

Hermann Maier is an Austrian legend and Bode Miller is a legend too, of course," Kriechmayr told FIS after his run. "It was a really special race today, with bib number one it wasn't so easy and it looks like it was good enough for the victory today. An amazing race." Speaking to Eurosport, he added: "It's pretty amazing, it was a difficult race. It was not perfect, I lost a lot of time on the last part of the race but I was pretty fast on the middle part. It was good enough, and that's it. "Yes, of course I had my medal, I already had a medal and How to Watch 2021 World Junior Alpine Skiing Championships Live  I wanted to show my best today. "I always was a fan of these two guys but to be on the same step as them is amazing," he said of comparisons to Maier and Miller. Silver medallist Sander, who continued Germany's run of silver medals at the Championships, told Eurosport: "Just one-hundredth, I saw it and I was like 'uh-oh, that could be... hopefully it's not for a medal'. "I saw the time, it was really fast, 1:37, and then I thought maybe it was a good one. "I was feeling good, I was really in shape and felt good. I felt like maybe I could do it and cause a surprise. I felt it at the start. In the end, super happy."

U.S. Ski Team Announces 2021 Alpine World Championships Team

 U.S. Ski & Snowboard has named 21 athletes to represent the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team at the 2021 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, February 8-21. Led by four-time World Championship gold slalom medalist, and defending super-G World Champion as well as giant slalom bronze world junior alpine skiing  medalist Mikaela Shiffrin and four-time 2020-21 podium finisher Breezy Johnson, the roster will feature nine women and ten men. Five-time World Champion Ted Ligety and 2015 World Championships downhill silver medalist Travis Ganong, lead the way for the men, as Ryan Cochran-Siegle’s participation after his crash in the recent Kitzbuehel, Austria downhill is still in question (though unlikely after initial consultation).

 The list of those who will be making their World Championships debut includes a mix of former and current collegiate skiers, as well as rising stars who have come up through the NorAm, Europa Cup, and World Juniors ranks including Katie Hensien, AJ Hurt, Isabella Wright, Alex Leever, River Radamus, Ben Ritchie, Jett Seymour, and Luke Winters. Notably missing from competition will be both Tommy Ford and Keely Cashman,  world junior alpine skiing game who each met objective World Championship team criteria, but are currently sidelined with injuries. Cortina d’Ampezzo is a regular stop on the women’s World Cup speed tour, and a storied venue for Americans, past and present, with Shiffrin and Jackie Wiles both having podiumed in the World Cup, as well as strong top-15 results from Johnson in downhill. Fans can follow all of the action in Cortina d’Ampezzo on NBC, NBCSN and the Olympic Channel, with live streaming on Peacock Premium.

2021 World Junior Championships alpine team announced

 U.S. Ski & Snowboard has named eight athletes to the 2021 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships Team to represent the U.S. Alpine Ski Team in Bansko, Bulgaria, in six events, from March 3-10. The 2021 squad is derived from the U.S. B, C, D teams, and the U.S. Ski & Snowboard National Development Group, World Junior Alpine Skiing live  as well as top U.S. Ski & Snowboard club program athletes from across the nation. Headlining this year’s team are 2019 Junior Worlds’ silver medalists and FIS Ski World Cup mainstays, Ben Ritchie and AJ Hurt. Due to COVID, quotas have been halved from a normal year, according to the tea, Though 2020 World Juniors at Narvik, Norway, were cut short due to the coronavirus outbreak, Keely Cashman led the way with three top-10 results, including bronze in the alpine combined.

 Hurt finished in sixth just behind Cashman in the super-G at worlds and has skied consistently strong on the World Cup, scoring points across four disciplines during the 2020-21 season (parallel, slalom, giant slalom, and super-G). Additionally, Nicola Rountree-Williams was the second-fastest U18 last year in the giant slalom, and Bradshaw Underhill had a top-10 super-G result, in ninth. “We are sending a strong team to the World Junior Championships this year, with multiple medal contenders and a goal of being on the podium in the Junior Alpine Skiing live stream  overall Hodler Cup team competition,” said Alpine Development Director Chip Knight. “Many of our athletes have been racing at the Europa Cup and World Cup levels in recent months, so they are well prepared to compete with their international peers. We are looking forward to a great event.” The 2021 Junior Worlds will not include downhill, alpine combined, and team events but will feature men and women’s super-G, giant slalom, and slalom. Live timing will be provided by FIS.