Brighton & Hove Albion kick off their 2026-27 Premier League campaign with a tricky test against Aston Villa.
Fabian Hurzeler’s Seagulls finished eighth last season so will be looking to mount another top-eight push, whilst Villa seek to match their fourth-placed finish of last season.
Team News
Matt O’Riley is set to return for Brighton after he missed their goalless first leg away to Tromso in their UEFA Conference League Play-Off.
Yankuba Minteh (leg), Stefanos Tzimas (knee), Kaoru Mitoma (hamstring), Carlos Baleba and Evan Ferguson (both ankle) remain absent.
Aston Villa will be without Brian Madjo due to an ankle injury suffered during their UEFA Super Cup defeat against PSG.
Summer signing, Johan Manzambi is still sidelined with a knee injury suffered whilst at this summer’s FIFA World Cup with Switzerland.
Fellow newbie, Joao Gomes is sidelined with a calf injury, but loanee – Alejandro Garnacho is available after recovering from a concussion.
Tammy Abraham (adductor) is a doubt but Amadou Onana (ACL) and Leon Bailey (muscle) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Brighton host Villa at the AMEX Stadium on Sunday 23 August at 2pm BST, live on Sky Sports Premier League in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Brighton have won one of their last 11 league meetings against Villa (W1, D2, L8).
- Aston Villa have lost one of their seven previous Premier League trips to Brighton (W4, D2, L1).
- Brighton have lost two of their last six league matches at home (W4, L2).
- Villa have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last seven away top-flight fixtures (W1, D3, L3)
Prediction
Having lost a few rocks in Joel Veltman, Jan Paul van Hecke, Adam Webster, Solly March and Danny Welbeck this summer, Brighton are definitely in a new era but they have to be much more clinical than they were away to Tromso because they were just wasteful.
I therefore wouldn’t be surprised if Hurzeler opts to field a slightly weaker line-up here because the priority has to be on that home leg on Thursday, especially if they want more European football this season.
Villa meanwhile are in a new chapter of their own following the sales of Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne, Morgan Rogers and Ezri Konsa for Financial Fair Play (FFP) purposes, so this season is likely to be about rebuilding but can’t be any worse than last season’s slow start.
Nevertheless Villa have a solid manager in Unai Emery who will find a way to get this group delivering and there were promising signs in their UEFA Super Cup defeat, so I can see them kicking on but Brighton probably should grind out a point here.
Prediction: Brighton 1-1 Aston Villa
Result: Brighton 4-0 Aston Villa
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