Brighton and Hove Albion arrive at Villa Park on Saturday having enjoyed a highly impressive start to the new Premier League season. Although they lost their first Europa League game to AEK Athens last week and have been knocked out of the EFL Cup this week, the Seagulls have claimed five wins in their first six league matches – and they’ve won three on the spin.
Aston Villa have had a similar start to the campaign; they too have suffered defeats in the EFL Cup and in Europe, but Unai Emery’s side have 12 points from their opening six Premier League outings – including successive wins over Crystal Palace and Chelsea.
For it, the visitors may be without a handful of key players; they’ve recruited well this summer and added the likes of Joao Pedro from Watford and Ansu Fati on loan from Barcelona, as well as James Milner on a free transfer following his departure from Liverpool. The veteran midfielder, who made 100 Premier League appearances for Villa, is a doubt with a muscle injury and missed the games with Chelsea and Bournemouth.