Confirmed Hull v Aston Villa lineups: Grealish starts, new signing Moreira not involved

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Aston Villa travel to take on Hull City this evening.

Hull City and Aston Villa are the final two Championship clubs to kick off their seasons as they meet at the KCOM Stadium this evening.

Hull have seen a host of first-team regulars leave the club this summer, including Allan McGregor, Max Clark, Michael Dawson, Seb Larsson and David Meyler, leaving Nigel Adkins with a major job on his hands.

Tonight, the Tigers appear to be lining up in a 4-5-1 formation, with David Marshall given the nod in goal ahead of new signing George Long.

New signings Eric Lichaj, Reece Burke and Jordy de Wijs line up across defence, with Stephen Kingsley featuring at left back in Adkins’ back four.

Daniel Batty, Evandro and Markus Henriksen should feature as the midfield three, with Todd Kane and Jarrod Bowen called upon to support lone striker Fraizer Campbell.

Long is named on the bench, alongside Angus McDonald, Kevin Stewart, Jackson Irvine, David Milinkovic, Nouha Dicko and Will Keane.

Meanwhile, Villa have come out largely unscathed from a tumultuous summer, with new investment from Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens easing their financial concerns.

Bruce has though lost Sam Johnstone, John Terry and Lewis Grabban from last season’s play-off finalist side, with Jed Steer now called upon to start in goal this evening.

Alan Hutton, James Chester, Tommy Elphick and Neil Taylor start at the back, with the latter duo given chances to resurrect their Villa careers under Bruce.

Glenn Whelan and Conor Hourihane start in the middle of the park, with Ahmed Elmohamady and Albert Adomah featuring out wide, enabling Jack Grealish to start as a No. 10 despite speculation over his future.

Jonathan Kodjia is fit to lead the line, which is great news for Bruce given that he is lacking striking options right now, though Rushian Hepburn-Murphy has made it to the bench.

He is joined by Mark Bunn, James Bree, Gary Gardner, Birkir Bjarnason, Henri Lansbury and Andre Greena s Villa look to start the season in style.