Brighton host Aston Villa at American Express Stadium on Sunday, August 23 (9:00 AM ET \/ 8:00 AM CT \/ 6:00 AM PT).<\/p>\n
Brighton head into the new season missing the injured Stefanos Tzimas (knee), the injured Evan Ferguson (ankle\/foot) and the injured Carlos Baleba (ankle\/foot), while Kaoru Mitoma (thigh) and Matthew O’Riley (illness) are doubts and Yankuba Minteh is nursing a calf issue. Danny Welbeck, who scored thirteen goals last season, should still lead the line, with Diego G\u00f3mez and Jack Hinshelwood the other Brighton names to watch. Aston Villa have their own gaps: the injured Amadou Onana (knee), the injured Johan Manzambi (knee) and the sidelined Leon Bailey are all out, and Alejandro Garnacho is a doubt with a head injury. Ollie Watkins, who found the net sixteen times last season, and Morgan Rogers remain the two Villa need fit and firing.<\/p>\n
Villa have shown they can find goals in bunches \u2014 four in a home win over Liverpool, four more in a home draw with Sunderland \u2014 but conceded plenty along the way too, and that pattern squares nicely against a Brighton side who beat Wolves and Chelsea by three clear goals each without ever looking entirely tight at the back themselves. Neither club has kicked a ball this season, so this opener is really about which attack finds its rhythm first, and on the balance of how each side finished last time out, Brighton’s home advantage and greater firepower up front should be enough to nose it.<\/p>\n\n\n