Brighton v Aston Villa: Prediction, team news, lineups and odds | OneFootball

Brighton have finished in the top half of the Premier League in four of the last five seasons and a second successive eighth-place finish last term was enough to secure a spot in the Conference League. They made their debut in the competition on Thursday night, travelling to the far north of Norway to draw 0-0 with Tromso.

Aston Villa landed European silverware last season when skipper John McGinn hoisted the Europa League trophy. They did that while still enjoying an excellent domestic campaign and were on the fringes of the title race before finishing fourth.

The loss of Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne over the summer is a collective blow that would hurt any side but Unai Emery is one of the best managers around as he showed again in Villa’s narrow 2-1 European Super Cup loss to Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month.

Brighton v Aston Villa kick-off time

Brighton v Aston Villa kicks off at 2pm BST on Sunday, August 23 at The Amex.

Brighton v Aston Villa how to watch

The game will be shown live in the UK via Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage starting from 1pm.

Brighton team news

Brighton have lost the vastly experienced pair James Milner (retired) and Danny Welbeck (moved to Chelsea) so will have a more youthful look.

Manchester United target Carlos Baleba isn’t fit to play, while Yankuba Minteh, who has been the subject of a £60m bid from Liverpool, will be out for some time with a calf issue.

Strikers Stefanos Tzimas and Evan Ferguson will also be absent, but Promise David could make his debut for the club after arriving from Royale Union Saint-Gilloise on a season-long loan.

Fellow summer signings Luka Vuskovic and Zadok Yohanna made their debuts against Tromso, while Pascal Struijk, Costinho and Michael Svoboda remained on the bench.

Aston Villa team news

As well as losing key men in the transfer market, Emery also has a number of injuries to contend with.

Amadou Onana is a long-term absentee after being injured playing for Belgium, while Johan Manzambi also picked up a knock in the World Cup and will miss out.

Villa are short of options in midfield as Joao Gomes sustained a calf injury against PSG and will now miss the start of the Premier League season.

Teenager Brian Madjo made headlines with his performance and goal in the loss to PSG, but the 17-year-old also picked up an injury in the game and is set to be out for a couple of weeks.

Fellow attackers Tammy Abraham and Alejandro Garnacho will be assessed.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka could go straight into the side at right-back after joining on a season-long loan from West Ham.

Brighton v Aston Villa odds

Brighton are 6/5 to kick the season off with a home win. Aston Villa are 2/1 while The Draw is 12/5.

Villa are 9/4 to finish in the top five this season while Brighton are 11/2.

Brighton v Aston Villa prediction

Aston Villa have won nine of their 14 Premier League meetings with Brighton and boast three wins and a draw against current Seagulls boss Fabian Hurzeler.

Last season’s clash at the Amex was particularly memorable with Villa coming from 2-0 down to win 4-3.

Both sides have already seen competitive action ahead of the big Premier League kick-off, and Villa’s narrow 2-1 loss to PSG was surely more impressive than Brighton’s goalless draw against Tromso.

That, and their strong historical head-to-head record against Brighton, suggests the 2/1 for a Villa win is worth taking here.

Ollie Watkins has netted nine times in his last nine appearances against Brighton so his anytime scorer price, also 2/1, is of interest.

Combining both, Watkins to score in a Villa win is 9/2.