Ollie Watkins’ hat-trick helps rampant Aston Villa hit Brighton for six

Emery’s innovations may have been chewed up and spat out by Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain but he remains a manager of meticulous research, often knowing his opponents perhaps even better than they do themselves.

HAT-TRICK MAN: Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins (left) celebrates scoring his third goal of the game. Pic: Barrington Coombs/PA Wire

Aston Villa 6 Brighton 1

Two aspirant clubs, a pair of transformative managers, both aiming to crash the elite. Both coaches deeply admire the other, but it was Roberto De Zerbi, lately linked with Real Madrid, who received a lesson from the greater wiles of Unai Emery, and a masterclass in centre-forward play by Villa’s Ollie Watkins.