Aston Villa 3-0 Brighton – Premier League LIVE: Unai Emery’s clinical side blow the Seagulls away inside 27 minutes as a Pervis Estupinan own goal and Ollie Watkins’ quick-fire brace put the hosts in control

A triple half-time change for Brighton, which comes as no surprise after that first half.

Ansu Fati and Joao Pedro are on for Evan Ferguson and Danny Welbeck.

Tariq Lamptey replaces Estupinan, who had a shocker in the first-half.

Unless something remarkable happens in the second half, Aston Villa look poised to climb to fourth ahead of the 3pm kick-offs.

Having said that they currently would have the same number of points as Brighton with a marginally worse goal difference.

Brighton have had complaints over both the second and third goals.

The second due to a possible offside for Zaniolo and the third because of a potential foul in the build-up.

A lot of the pre-match talk surrounded Aston Villa’s shirts, but it has been no sweat for Unai Emery’s side in the first half.

A superb display from the hosts. Work to do for Roberto De Zerbi.

More chances for Aston Villa on the stroke of half-time.

Diaby, Zaniolo and McGinn all see shots blocked in the same move.

Moments later Zaniolo shoots from a narrow angle with Steele able to gather.

Four minutes added at the end of the first half.

Aston Villa won’t mind that at all as their domiance continues.

Rather sums up the half for Brighton.

A rare attack sees Mitoma move down the left flank, before the winger checks back inside and attempts a reverse ball to Welbeck.

The pass drifts out for a goal kick.

More cheers from the home fans as Danny Welbeck is shown a yellow card.

The first Brighton man in the book after he slid in on Boubacar Kamara.

Lucas Digne is the second Aston Villa player to be booked after a foul.

Chances continue to flow.

Brighton should have one back with Solly March heading over from close range.

At the other end, Villa produce an intricate free kick that eventually forces Jason Steele to race from his goal to clear.

The Brighton goalkeeper is awarded a free kick after a collision, while Villa fans screamed for a penalty.

Brighton are getting battered at Villa Park.

Another good move from the hosts eventually ends with Diaby free in the box.

The Frenchman drives an effort that Jason Steele beats out back into the box.

Diaby’s second effort is a scuffed one, but fortunately for VIlla hits the unfortunate Pervis Estupinan and deflects into the net.

Brighton are all over the place here as Moussa Diaby sees a shot deflected across the face of goal.

Ollie Watkins at the double for Aston Villa!

The hosts win back possession after a loose touch from Joel Veltman, with Watkins then freed down the left.

He cuts inside and fires back Jason Steele.

After a VAR check to see if Zaniolo is offside, the goal is given.

Watkins goes close to doubling Aston Villa’s lead with an effort just wide of the right post.

Can Emery’s side strike again quickly?

Told you it wouldn’t be goalless!

A superb move from Aston Villa with Matty Cash fed in down the right, with the full back firing low ball across the face of the goal.

Ollie Watkins is in the right place to turn the ball into the net to give Villa a perfect start.

A real waste from Moussa Diaby. The Frenchman races into space on the right flank and looks poised to cut in on his left for a shot at goal.

In the end he overruns the ball and moves into traffic in the centre.

Douglas Luiz gets a really early yellow card following a high foot on Gilmour.

Luiz and the Villa Park crowd are not happy with that decision.

A long way to go for the midielder to survive on a booking.

The first chance goes the way of the visitors with Pervis Estupinan.played in behind the Villa defence by Billy Gilmour.

The full back does a touch but is unable to get enough power onto his effort, allowing Emi Martinez to comfortably gather.

Roberto De Zerbi’s turns away in frustration.

Some excitment from the home crowd in the opening moments as Jason Steele has a couple of risky passes for Brighton.

Cheers greet goalkeeper’s second pass going straight out of play.

It’s how Brighton play though, risk and reward.

Some flames by the touchline as Aston Villa hype up the atmopshere a notch.

The Premier League anthem and handshakes completed as the pre-match rituals are completed.

We are good to go at Villa Park.

Referee Andy Madley gets the match underway.

With the players in the tunnel here is a reminder of the team news from both sides.

Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Kamara, Douglas Luiz, McGinn, Diaby, Zaniolo, Watkins.

Substitutes: Carlos, Tielemans, Traore, Chambers, Lenglet, Duran, Olsen, Dendoncker, Ramsey.

Brighton: Steele, Veltman, Webster, Dunk, Estupinan, Hinshelwood, Gilmour, March, Welbeck, Mitoma, Ferguson.

Substitutes: Verbruggen, Lamptey, Igor, Dahoud, Joao Pedro, Baleba, Adingra, van Hecke, Fati.

De Zerbi has also spoken about his decision to hand Jack Hinshelwood a first Premier League start.

‘I love his personality, he is a young player but has a big potential and courage,’ De Zerbi said.

‘We need him to keep this level of performance. I love to play with young players and if they deserve to play I won’t hesitate to put them on the pitch.’

Incidentially, Hinshelwood’s only other Premier League appearance came as a late subsitute on the final day of last season…. at Villa Park.

Hinshelwood played the final 20 minutes of Brighton’s Carabao Cup loss to Chelsea in midweek.

Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi has just been speaking to TNT Sports ahead of kick-off, which is now less than 30 minutes away.

‘It will a tough game, Villa are a great team with great players and a great coach,’ De Zerbi says.

‘We want to fight to win and keep the same position on the table

‘The motivation is to keep this level of performance, we want to stay on the same place on the table.’

Unai Emery is fast approaching one year in the job at Aston Villa and he has been a huge success so far.

Having taken over when the club threatened to be dragged into a relegation battle, the Spaniard led the club into the Europa Conference League after a superb second half of the campaign.

Emery, remarkably, has not had a single goalless draw in his 82 Premier League matches across his spells as Arsenal and Aston Villa.

Visitors Brighton have scored in 22 consecutive Premier League matches, including 16 away from home.

You can definitely blame me if this ends goalless.

One slight downside for Aston Villa about playing at home is that their ‘wet-look’ Castore home kit is reportedly more problematic than their away strip.

Mail Sport’s Chris Sutton has had his say on one of the more bizarre Premier League stories.

‘If Villa’s players feel their Castore shirts are collecting sweat and affecting performances, they have every right to complain,’ Sutton writes.

‘The Premier League is the elite division in the world and it is bonkers to think a team’s kit might not be up to scratch.’

The team news is in with Aston Villa unchanged from their 1-0 win over Chelsea last weekend.

Brighton have made several changes with the most notable being Jack Hinshelwood earning a first Premier League start.

Kaoru Mitoma returns to the starting line-up after scoring twice off the bench against Bournemouth last weekend.

Aston Villa also suffered a Carabao Cup exit during the week, losing 2-1 at home against Everton.

Unai Emery’s side have been impressive so far in the Premier League winning four and drawing two so far.

Those two defeats were comprehensive, however, with that 5-1 opening day hammering to Newcastle and a 3-0 loss against Liverpool.

It should be a cracker between two attack minded sides today.

There have been 22 goals in Aston Villa’s six league matches this season and 26 in Brighton’s.

Surely there will be more goals to come in the opening game of the Premier League weekend…

Brighton head to Villa Park third in the Premier League after five wins and one defeat so far this season.

The Seagulls have won their last three in the league since losing 3-1 to West Ham at the end of August.

Roberto De Zerbi’s side have suffered Europa League and Carabao Cup defeats to AEK Athens and Chelsea though over the past month.

Aston Villa’s men’s and women’s teams will be forced to wear their ‘wet-look’ Castore shirts live on TV this weekend, despite players’ concerns over performance and appearance, after the kit manufacturer failed to find a solution in time.

Players from both teams complained over the design of the shirts, claiming the heavy material increases their sweat levels and weighs them down in matches.

Mail Sport understands both teams were given the option to wear their white away kit, made of the same material, for their respective Premier League and Women’s Super League matches, but have chosen to wear their traditional home strip.

Hello and welcome to Mail Sport’s live coverage as Brighton travel to Villa Park to face Unai Emery’s side.

Kick-off comes at 12.30pm, but stick around as we bring you team news, build-up, and more ahead of the start of this Premier League weekend.