Zion Suzuki believes Aston Villa is the "right club to start my first journey in the Premier League".
Suzuki relishing Premier League opportunity with Villa
Aston Villa begin their Premier League campaign away to Brighton, and goalkeeper Zion Suzuki is in line to make his competitive debut.
The goalkeeper completed a £30m (€35m) move to Villa Park from Parma on Wednesday, with Emiliano Martinez expected to leave the club this summer.
The 23-year-old made 22 appearances for Parma last term, keeping six clean sheets and recording a goals prevented figure of -0.63.
Suzuki could make his Villa debut when Unai Emery's side begin their 2026-27 Premier League campaign on Sunday against Brighton.
The Japan international is excited at the prospect of playing in the Premier League and competing for trophies with Villa.
"I'm very excited and I'm very happy to be here to start my new journey," Suzuki told VillaTV.
"I think this is the right club to start my first journey in the Premier League. And also they [Villa] are always competing for trophies.
"I want to play at the highest level and that's why I've decided to come here.
"My dream is to play in the Premier League, now it is time for me to play in the Premier League.
"I want to prove myself at this highest level. I'm really looking forward to playing on the pitch."
Brighton will be hoping to build on their eighth-place finish in the Premier League last season, which secured them a spot in the Conference League qualifying rounds.
Fabian Hurzeler's side played out a 0-0 draw in Thursday's first leg against Tromso, despite dominating for much of the encounter at Romssa Arena.
The Seagulls did clinch their spot in Europe in 2025-26 despite losing their final two games. Brighton have not lost three in a row in the Premier League since March 2022 under Graham Potter, when they lost six consecutive games.
Hurzeler himself has not suffered three consecutive league defeats since November 2018 with FC Pipinsried in the Regionalliga Bayern.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Brighton – Lewis Dunk
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.
Aston Villa – Ollie Watkins
Against no side has Ollie Watkins been involved in more Premier League goals than he has against Brighton (11 – nine goals, two assists), with all of these coming in his last nine appearances against the Seagulls.
However, it remains to be seen whether Watkins will be involved this Sunday, with reports linking the England international with a move to Al-Hilal.
MATCH PREDICTION – BRIGHTON WIN
Since losing 3-1 to Chelsea on MD1 in 2020-21, Brighton 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.
However, Brighton have lost 64% of their Premier League games against 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).
Villa also have not lost any of their four Premier League games against Hurzeler's Brighton (W3 D1).
Hurzeler's points-per-game ratio against Emery is his joint-lowest against an opposition manager in the competition (minimum 2 games), along with former Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner (0.25).
Since returning to the Premier League in 2019-20, 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.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Brighton – 44.1%
Draw – 24.8%
Aston Villa – 31.1%
