Brighton on Sunday, Watkins, Konsa, incomings, mini season preview and match facts from the BBC

Proper football is finally back and what a season we have in front of us. And is it just me or does it feel like it’s been longer than normal? The World Cup didn’t help but I’m glad we’re back and I’m looking forward to it.

And we’ve reason to be optimistic and it all comes down to the person pictured below. We’ve had a dark day for Aston Villa in the past, but the day this man became our manager was a very special day.

Unai Emery is the reason why we are where we are and he is the most important person at the Club. Yes, our owners are doing a fantastic job and without them we wouldn’t be here, but it’s this man that makes it all work.

And that’s why players coming and going doesn’t bother me as much as it did 10 or 20 years ago. And because football isn’t rocket science. I can easily take a position that the managers that make it more difficult than it has to be are the ones that struggle. I won’t name them.

Football is about getting the right players doing the right things with absolute purpose and determination. If players don’t want to do that at Aston Villa, then I don’t mind so much that they leave.

I don’t mind Ollie wanting out, if he does. I don’t mind Emi wanting out if he does too. It bothers me a little that Konsa wants to leave, but that’s because he still has more to offer and his best is yet to come and we’re not going to see it, after taking him to where he is.

But it’s about the ones that do want to be here and if a player decides they do want to do it after spending time with the manager, then I think they’re the right player for us. And again, it’s not rocket science. And we’ve signed some very interesting players this summer.

And while we’ve lost players and may lose others, like I wrote above, it’s the manager that is most important and the players he has brought in are all good enough to get better. And they’ve now got a manager that can do that for them.

Johan Manzambi, João Gomes, Zion Suzuki, Alejandro Garnacho and Matteo Ruggeri are the players in so far and there will be more. And if they have bought into the manager and Club and as supporters, if we do our job, I’m optimistic for this season. And with Brighton on Sunday, it’s where it all begins. And it will be interesting to see the starting 11, anyone care to make some predictions?

Match facts from the BBC

• Brighton have lost 64% of their Premier League games against Aston Villa (9/14 – W2 D3). Of teams they have faced in more than one campaign, only against Manchester City have they lost a higher percentage of their games in the competition (67% - 12/18).
• Aston Villa haven’t lost any of their four Premier League games against Fabian Hürzeler’s Brighton (W3 D1). Indeed, Hürzeler’s points per game ratio against Unai Emery is his joint-lowest against an opposition manager in the competition (min. 2 games), along with former Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner (0.25).
• Brighton have dropped more points from winning positions against Aston Villa than they have vs any other side in the Premier League (13). Their record when leading against the Villans is W2 D2 L3.
• Since losing 3-1 to Chelsea on MD1 in 2020-21, Brighton and Hove Albion are unbeaten in their opening game in five Premier League seasons (W4 D1). It’s their longest run without losing their opening league game since going 10 seasons in a row between 1969-70 and 1978-79.
• Since returning to the Premier League in 2019-20, Aston Villa have started their season with a win just twice in seven attempts (D1 L4), beating Sheffield United in 2020-21 and West Ham in 2024-25.
• Aston Villa have begun 13 of their last 14 Premier League campaigns by playing on a Saturday, with the exception coming in 2020-21 (vs Sheffield United on a Monday). This is the first time their opening game of a top-flight season has been on a Sunday since 2008-09, beating Manchester City 4-2 with Gabriel Agbonlahor scoring a hat-trick.
• Brighton lost their final two Premier League games of 2025-26, but haven’t lost three in a row in the competition since March 2022 under Graham Potter (a run of 6 – the third of which was at home to Aston Villa). Indeed, manager Fabian Hürzeler hasn’t suffered three consecutive league defeats since November 2018 with FC Pipinsried in the Regionalliga Bayern.
• Aston Villa scored more goals from outside the box both overall (15) and as a percentage of their total (27%) than any other side in the Premier League this season. Indeed, the last team to net a higher share of their goals from distance in the division was Southampton in 2018-19 (29%).
• Lewis Dunk could be the first player to make 300 Premier League appearances for Brighton in this match. He’s started all nine of the Seagulls’ games on MD1 in the competition – he’s the only player to have started 100% of a team’s opening weekend games among sides having played in more than two seasons.
• Against no side has Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins been involved in more Premier League goals than he has against Brighton (11 – 9 goals, 2 assists), with all of these coming in his last nine appearances against the Seagulls.