Brighton v Aston Villa: Full lineups confirmed for Premier League Matchday 1
Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa have announced their starting lineups for the Premier League 2026-27 Matchday 1 fixture at the American Express Stadium in Brighton on Sunday, August 23, 2026. Aston Villa enter the game having beaten Brighton 4-3 in the corresponding fixture last season.
Brighton are led by head coach Fabian Hurzeler, who has delivered consecutive top-half finishes for the club, and have been active in the transfer market this summer. The Seagulls signed Luka Vuskovic for a club-record fee and list him among several new arrivals who could make their first appearances, with Promise David, Pascal Struijk, Zadok Yohanna and Costinha also mentioned as summer recruits. Unai Emery’s Aston Villa have undergone summer changes of their own, losing Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans while bringing in Johan Manzambi and Joao Gomes among others.
Brighton starting XI: Bart Verbruggen; Mats Wieffer, Luka Vuskovic, Olivier Boscagli, Lewis Dunk; Pascal Gross, Yasin Ayari; Diego Gomez, Jack Hinshelwood, Maxime De Cuyper; Georginio Rutter. Bench: Jason Steele (gk), Pascal Struijk, Promise David, Ibrahim Osman, Charalampos Kostoulas, Michavel Svoboda, Malick Yalcouye, Zadok Yohanna.
Aston Villa starting XI: Marco Bizot; Matty Cash, Victor Lindelof, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen; Ross Barkley, Boubacar Kamara; John McGinn, Joao Gomes, Emiliano Buendia; George Hemmings. Bench: Zion Suzuki (gk), Tyrone Mings, Matteo Ruggeri, Alejandro Garnacho, Lamare Bogarde, Triston Rowe, Alysson Edward, Bradley Burrowes, Luka Lynch.
The Matchday 1 fixture will take place at the American Express Stadium in Brighton, England, with the kick-off time in India listed as 6:30 PM IST. For live updates and further coverage, Khel Now directs readers to its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels, its Android and iOS apps, and its Telegram community.
The piece was written by Sushruta, who has spent over two years covering football with a focus on Indian and international competitions; his reporting has also covered a variety of other sports, and he cites personal interests outside journalism such as watching movies and reading books.
