It’s fair to say Albion have happier hunting grounds than Villa Park.

Graham Potter’s men will walk out at the famous old venue on Saturday hoping that they can do something no other Albion side has done in the past and win there.

Albion have visited Villa Park 11 times but have only managed to pick up three points.

The only team that the Seagulls have not beaten in more attempts away from home is Preston North End.

They have been to Deepdale 16 times and never emerged victorious.

The Seagulls have only won three games out of the 22 meetings between themselves and Villa, with all of these victories have come at home.

The last victory against Villa was 39 years ago on the December 20, 1980 in a 1-0 win at the Goldstone.

This all looks very gloomy from an Albion perspective but they have come close to picking up a win at Villa Park in the past.

The most recent was in the Championship, when they had the chance to win the title.

Albion looked to be heading to victory after Glenn Murray had given them the lead from the spot and Villa had been reduced to ten men with Nathan Baker sent off.

However in the 89th minute Jack Grealish’s strike sent David Stockdale the wrong way and broke Albion fans hearts, meaning it finished 1-1 and they had to settle for a second place finish in the table instead of silverware.

Albion have had other really good chances to get an elusive win at Villa Park in the past. One of them was in October 1970, when they drew 0-0.

John Ross wrote the following about the draw in The People. He said: “This eager Albion side must not be accused of back-pedalling, retreating into one of those boring defensive actions. They gave as good as they got.”

Manager at the time Pat Saward said: “I was particularly impressed with the performance of our youngsters, and I’m certain if they continue to apply themselves in this way in the future then Albion have nothing to fear.”

Another chance of a win was on September 2, 1972 as Albion drew 1-1 at Villa Park.

It was Peter O’Sullivan, who sits second in the list of the most appearances for Albion with 491, who gave them the lead 22 seconds into the second half with a superb finish from just inside the box. Villa equalised with half an hour to go through Andy Lochhead. Albion could not go on to get the win but secured their first away point of the season.

The club’s first ever away match in the top fight was a midweek game at Villa in which Teddy Maybank scored in a 2-1 defeat.

So although the stats do not make for good reading, a buoyant Albion side will head to Villa Park hoping they can make their own bit of history.

These records are there to be broken.

Just as Albion did in October three years ago when they secured the club’s first ever success at Hillsborough after 17 winless visits And it is not all bad news at Villa Park.

Although Albion’s senior side have not tasted success there, the under-23’s did when they won promotion in the Division Two play-off final against Villa’s youngsters, beating them 2-0 in May 2018.

Aaron Connolly, who scored, and Steven Alzate both started that game.