Brighton lineup vs. Aston Villa: Predicted XI for opening 2026-27 Premier League fixture

Brighton & Hove Albion will be without five players for their opening game of the 2026-27 Premier League season at home to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

Carlos Baleba is nursing an ankle injury but is on the verge of joining Manchester United for a fee in excess of £65m, while Yankuba Minteh (leg) - another linked with an exit - Kaoru Mitoma (hamstring), Stefanos Tzimas (knee) and Evan Ferguson (ankle) are also sidelined.

Fabian Hurzeler oversaw a goalless stalemate between his Brighton side and Tromso in the first leg of their Conference League playoff tie in Norway on Thursday, with club-record signing Luka Vuskovic, Pascal Gross, Yasin Ayari, Matz Wieffer and Olivier Boscagli all playing the full 90 minutes.

It seems unlikely that the quintet will play every minutes once again on Sunday, but some of those players could be handed another start, with centre-back Vuskovic, right-back Wieffer and midfielder Gross the most likely to retain their places.

Boscagli, Lewis Dunk, Pascal Struijk and Michael Svoboda are four centre-back options all vying to start alongside Vuskovic, while Ferdi Kadioglu and Bart Verbruggen are primed to begin at left-back and in goal respectively.

Gross could move into a deeper midfield role alongside either Ayari or Malick Yalcouye, allowing Jack Hinshelwood to return in the number 10 position where he thrived during the latter stages of last season, scoring three goals in his final five league appearances.

Diego Gomez may continue on the right, unless new signing Zadok Yohanna is handed his full debut, while Ibrahim Osman and Maxim De Cuyper will both battle for a start on the left flank.

Promise David became Brighton’s seventh summer signing earlier this week and the striker is available to make his debut against Villa. However, Georginio Rutter is expected to get the nod to lead the line.

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:

Verbruggen; Weiffer, Dunk, Vuskovic, Kadioglu; Ayari, Gross; Gomez, Hinshelwood, De Cuyper; Rutter

> Click here to see how Aston Villa could line up against Brighton & Hove Albion