England Premier League
Saturday 3rd February 2024
Kick off at 3pm GMT
Venue: Amex Stadium
Match Preview:
We have all been singing the praises of what a fantastic job Roberto De Zerbi has been doing at Brighton however in midweek the Seagulls were absolutely shot down back to planet Earth. Brighton lost 4-0 to relegation-threatened Luton in one of the real surprises of the Premier League season so far. How will they respond?
Brighton come into this weekend one would imagine shell shocked and are in 9th place on 32 points, it is closely in that part of the table and no European finish is guaranteed. On the plus point the Luton defeat was the clubs first in almost two months and it was away from home. At home a different story is told and the Seagulls have only lost here once, although they have drawn three games from their past five and that includes their last home game which finished 0-0 against Wolves.
For Crystal Palace their midweek 3-2 win over Sheffield United seemed to be all about their manager Roy Hodgson. The veteran probably would have been sacked had Palace, who have been on a difficult run lost to the bottom side in the league. They had to fight back from a losing position and the result is that Hodgson stays for now. Palace are in 14th place and have 24 points and are six points clear of the bottom three but they are far from being out of the woods and it just takes a poor month of games to be back in trouble. The Eagles have only managed to win 3 of their trips so far and have lost 5 from 11 games this includes back to back losses away from home although this was against Arsenal and Chelsea and the Arsenal game ended in a 5-0 defeat. Some of the doom and gloom could be lifted if Palace were to win this game and they could climb as high as 12th place and all of a sudden talk of Hodgson losing his job would feel ridiculous, however if they lose here and perhaps lose heavily he could be out, how thin margins football runs on.
Team News:
Brighton: Kaoru Mitoma and Simon Adringa are on international duty. Ansu Fati is expected to return but will be assessed for fitness issues. Julio Enciso isn’t expected to return for at least 3 weeks due to a knee injury, Joao Pedro will be assessed for a slight knock, James Milner has a muscle injury and could miss some weeks , Joel Veltman remains out and March Soloman is out long term with a knee injury.
Crystal Palace: Eberechi Eze could miss out with a hamstring injury and is only 50/50 to make this game. Michael Olise pulled up with a muscle issue but is being tipped to be fine for this game. Joel Ward will miss out with a hamstring injury, Rob Holding and Chieck Doucoure are both out long term.
Brighton vs Crystal Palace Head to Head:
Last season Brighton won this fixture 1-0.
It’s been six fixtures and two years since Crystal Palace last beat Brighton.
Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture the teams drew 1-1.
Brighton vs Crystal Palace Prediction:
These games are usually close ones and recent fixtures have seen fewer than 3 goals scored on occasion. This is a game where De Zerbi will be expecting to see a reaction from his side after facing a drubbing from Luton. At home Brighton can be a match for any club and their record of one just one defeat so far is impressive.
Crystal Palace need to gain momentum and they are a club who should be staying up this season but the players won’t want to see their manager sacked before it ends and it is very clear that they are behind him. Palace have struggled at times against Brighton but will be pumped up to have just scored 3 goals but this is a big ask to come here and upset Brighton. The first 10 minutes could well reveal how this game is heading but we are going to pick Brighton to nick it.
Brighton vs Crystal Palace Betting Tips:
Brighton to beat Crystal Palace at 1.70
Anytime goalscorer: Pervis Estupinian at 8.00
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