Brighton open at home to Villa in season's first meeting

Different trajectories

Brighton come into the fixture on the back of a run that includes wins in three of their last five recent matches, one draw and one defeat. Villa's preparations have been less smooth: they have lost three of their last five, with two wins and no draws in that spell.

Neither side has played a league fixture yet this season, so both sit on zero points from zero played. A win here would take the victor to three points from one match; a draw would leave both on one point from one.

Recent meetings favour the visitors

The head-to-head record tilts firmly towards Villa. Of the last five meetings between the two, Villa have won three, Brighton one, with one drawn. The most recent encounter ended 1-0 to Villa, and the five matches combined produced 16 goals.

Brighton's summer has included bids from Liverpool for Minteh—Brighton knock back Liverpool's Minteh bid—and a £65m offer from Manchester United for Carlos Baleba. Villa will be looking to convert their historical edge into three points when the season gets under way at Falmer on Sunday.

We are covering this one live. Follow it with us in the match centre for the line-ups when they land, the goals as they go in, and the full timeline.