Brighton vs Aston Villa already has a major attacking subplot before the Premier League season has even started, with the hosts preparing for life without their most productive forward of the last two years.
Danny Welbeck left the Amex for Chelsea earlier this month after scoring 26 Premier League goals across his final two seasons with Brighton.
The 35-year-old struck 13 times in the league last term alone and emerged as one of Fabian Hürzeler’s most important players.
Brighton now have plenty of attacking talent.
What they do not yet know is who will replace Welbeck’s goals when Aston Villa arrive on Sunday.
Brighton vs Aston Villa exposes huge Welbeck question
Welbeck’s departure matters for more than raw numbers.
A Brighton supporter writing in The Guardian’s Premier League season preview estimated his 13 league goals last season were worth 13 points, with many coming as equalisers or winners.
Chelsea also confirmed when announcing his arrival that Welbeck scored 26 Premier League goals during the previous two campaigns.
That leaves Brighton replacing reliability rather than simply filling an empty position.
The good news for Hürzeler is that his team created plenty last season. The Guardian’s Brighton preview noted that only the two Manchester clubs scored more goals from regular play, while their open-play expected-goal rate matched Arsenal’s.
Someone should therefore receive opportunities.
Whether they finish enough of them is the question Villa will hope remains unanswered for another week.
Three Brighton forwards fighting to fill 26-goal void
Georginio Rutter, Charalampos Kostoulas and Stefanos Tzimas are among the main candidates to take greater responsibility.
Kostoulas may be the most intriguing.
The 19-year-old made only two Premier League starts last season but showed enough flashes of quality for Brighton to believe a significantly larger role could follow.
Tzimas offers another natural striker option after returning to training following an ACL injury, while Rutter can operate across several attacking positions.
None offers Welbeck’s combination of Premier League experience and proven production yet.
That could influence how Emery approaches Sunday’s game.
Villa cannot simply assume Brighton will be weaker. A younger forward line may offer greater pace and unpredictability.
But removing the player who repeatedly converted Brighton’s chances gives Villa’s defence one less proven threat to solve.
Villa have opening-day questions of their own
Villa are hardly arriving at the Amex without uncertainty.
Unai Emery is preparing for a potential change in goal after ReadAstonVilla analysed why the club are betting heavily on Zion Suzuki, while Emi Martinez remains at Villa Park.
There is also uncertainty in attack.
ReadAstonVilla reported that Tammy Abraham suffered an injury scare before the Brighton opener, while Brian Madjo is already expected to miss the start of the campaign.
Ollie Watkins could consequently carry even greater responsibility if he remains at the club amid Al-Hilal interest.
Both teams are therefore entering Sunday with major attacking questions.
Brighton’s is particularly clear.
They spent the last two Premier League seasons relying on Welbeck for 26 goals.
Villa will hope they arrive before anyone has properly worked out how to replace them.
