Brighton & Hove Albion welcome Fulham to the Amex Stadium for their opening fixture of the 2025-26 Premier League season on Saturday afternoon.
The Seagulls beat the Cottagers 2-1 in their most recent meeting in March, ending a nine-game winless run against the West Londoners in the Premier League (D4 L5).
Match preview
Brighton & Hove Albion head coach Fabian Hurzeler on August 2, 2025
Brighton were one of the biggest spenders in Europe last summer, forking out over £200m on new players, but the Premier League’s youngest-ever manager Fabian Hurzeler was unable to steer the club back into European competition and had to settle for a respectable eighth-placed finish.
This summer, the Seagulls have spent in excess of £60m on six new signings, including Greek wonderkid Charalampos Kostoulas, but they have lost star striker Joao Pedro to Chelsea and left-back Pervis Estupinan to AC Milan, while key midfielder Carlos Baleba continues to be linked with a big-money switch to Manchester United.
Hurzeler is confident that Brighton “can compete with the big teams” this season and the German has overseen a positive pre-season this summer, with the Seagulls winning six and drawing one of their seven friendly fixtures, including 2-0 and 2-1 home victories in separate games against Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg last weekend.
Brighton head into Saturday’s contest with Fulham having won their opening top-flight match in each of the last four seasons - the Seagulls’ longest run in their league history and also the longest current run of any Premier League team.
Hurzeler and co will back themselves to find the net against the Cottagers, as they have scored more Premier League goals (31) than any other team since suffering a humbling 7-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in February, while only Manchester City (30) and Aston Villa (29) have accumulated up more PL points than Brighton in that time (27 - W8 D3 L3).
Fulham head coach Marco Silva on August 9, 2025
Fulham are preparing for their fourth consecutive season in the top flight and will endeavour to climb back into the top half of the table after finishing 11th last season with 54 points, their highest Premier League tally.
The Cottagers have had plenty to smile about over pre-season as they won all three of their friendly fixtures against Nottingham Forest, Al-Ittihad and Eintracht Frankfurt, beating the latter 1-0 on home soil last weekend courtesy of a delightful free kick from Raul Jimenez.
However, Marco Silva has endured a frustrating and “passive” summer transfer window, with the £500,000 arrival of backup goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte representing the club’s only new arrival. Silva has insisted that he is “very short on numbers” and has encouraged the club to reinforce before the September 1 deadline.
Fulham have won their opening league match in just one of the last eight seasons (D3 L4) - a 1-0 win at Everton in 2023-24 - and Silva believed that both his side and Brighton “are going to be anxious” ahead of this weekend’s opener.
Against Brighton, Fulham have won 50% of their 10 Premier League games (W5 D4 L1) - only against Leicester City (58%) and Bolton Wanderers (55%) do they have a higher win rate against teams they have faced at least 10 times - but have only won one of their last seven away league visits to the Seagulls (D3 L3), beating them 1-0 in February 2023.
Brighton & Hove Albion pre-season form:
W W W W D W
Fulham pre-season form:
W W W
Team News
Brighton & Hove Albion's Maxim De Cuyper on August 2, 2025
Brighton trio Solly March, Adam Webster and Julio Enciso are all sidelined with knee injuries, while Jack Hinshelwood (knock) and Baleba (knee) are both doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Hurzeler is likely to hand summer signing and attack-minded left-back Maxim De Cuyper his Premier League debut in a four-man defence that could also include captain Lewis Dunk, Jan Paul van Hecke and either Mats Wieffer or Tariq Lamptey at right-back.
Kaoru Mitoma and Danny Welbeck finished last season as Brighton’s joint-top scorers with 11 goals and both players are expected to start in the final third along with Georgino Rutter and Yankuba Minteh, while Yasin Ayari and Diego Gomez could both play in centre-midfield.
As for Fulham, Antonee Robinson did not play a single minute of pre-season after undergoing knee surgery in May, and he remains sidelined, while Ryan Sessegnon should be fit to take his place at left-back despite being taken off as a precaution in last weekend’s friendly win over Frankfurt.
Silva has confirmed that striker Rodrigo Muniz is “in contention” to play, even though he is allegedly keen to join Serie A side Atalanta BC who are understood to have tabled a £34m offer. However, Raul Jimenez is set to start up front.
Teenage starlet Joshua King impressed in pre-season and will push Emile Smith Rowe for a start in the number 10 role, while Harry Wilson - who scored a team-high five goals in pre-season - and Alex Iwobi are both set to begin on the flanks.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Wieffer, Van Hecke, Dunk, De Cuyper; Ayari, Gomez; Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma; Welbeck
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon; Berge, Lukic; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Jimenez
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We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Fulham
Brighton and Fulham have both enjoyed positive pre-season campaigns on the pitch and it would not be too much of a surprise to see both teams score at the Amex - four of their last six meetings have seen the net ripple at both ends.
The Cottagers have a decent overall record against the Seagulls, but we are backing the hosts on this occasion to outscore their opponents and claim a narrow opening-weekend victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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