On Wednesday night, Brighton & Hove Albion will host Brentford at the American Express Stadium in a Premier League match.
While Roberto De Zerbi‘s men hope to extend their unbeaten home run to six games, Thomas Frank‘s men hope to extend their unbeaten streak over the Seagulls to three games.
Brighton went into Saturday’s match against Chelsea in good spirits, having won their previous two games against AEK Athens and Nottingham Forest, extending their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions.
Despite having 68% possession, nine shots on goal, and playing the entire second half with an extra man due to Conor Gallagher‘s dismissal in the first half, De Zerbi‘s depleted squad was unable to register a third win in a row, falling 3-2 at Stamford Bridge.
Brighton, who are currently eighth in the Premier League table and seven points adrift of the top four, have now scored in each of their last 30 top-flight games, and have scored and conceded in each of their previous 18 league games – the longest such run in the competition.
Brighton will play three consecutive home games, beginning with an important Europa League group-stage match against Marseille, followed by back-to-back Premier League clashes with Brentford and Burnley, all of which De Zerbi and co will be aiming for maximum points in their quest to return to the top seven.
Brighton have drawn their last three home games during an unbeaten five-game run on the South Coast, while they failed to win both home and away fixtures with Brentford last season, playing out an entertaining 3-3 draw on home soil in April.
Brentford won 3-1 at home against Luton Town last weekend, their fifth Premier League win of the season, after consecutive defeats without scoring against Liverpool and Arsenal.
After a scoreless first half, Neal Maupay and Ben Mee put the Bees ahead in the first 11 minutes of the second half, before Jacob Brown equalized for the visitors 15 minutes from time to set up a tense finish. However, in the 81st minute, substitute Shandon Baptiste restored Brentford‘s two-goal lead, and the hosts held on for victory.
Thomas Frank lauded his team’s “very complete performance” in a “well-deserved” victory, and while Brentford remain 11th in the Premier League table, level on points with Chelsea in 10th, they are only five points adrift of the European places and three points behind Brighton in eighth heading into the festive period.
Brentford have only won one of their last five Premier League games, a 2-0 victory at Chelsea in October, but it is worth noting that the three games they lost during this run were against Newcastle United, Manchester United, and Liverpool, as well as a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest, who have turned the City Ground into something of a fortress since their promotion to the top flight two seasons ago.
The Bees have also won only one of their previous five Premier League midweek fixtures, as well as two of their last nine visits to Brighton, but the aforementioned draw with the Seagulls last season should give them confidence that they can claim another positive result on Wednesday.
Lewis Dunk and Mahmoud Dahoud of Brighton will serve the final game of their two- and three-match suspensions in midweek, respectively, while Ansu Fati, Tariq Lamptey, Pervis Estupinan (all thigh), Solly March (knee), Julio Enciso (both knee), and Danny Welbeck (muscle) are all still out.
Because Adam Webster (knee) will most likely be unavailable for Wednesday’s game, Igor Julio and Jan Paul van Hecke will likely continue at center-back, while James Milner could replace Jack Hinshelwood at left-back.
Joao Pedro, Kaoru Mitoma, and Pascal Gross all started on the bench against Chelsea last weekend, but the Seagulls trio will be pushing to start against Brentford and could replace Adam Lallana, Buonanotte, and Carlos Baleba, respectively.
Brentford are still without Rico Henry (knee), Aaron Hickey (thigh), Kevin Schade (groin), and Nathan Collins (ankle), as well as suspended duo Ivan Toney and Christian Norgaard, the latter of whom will serve a one-match ban due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Mathias Jensen, Josh Dasilva (both thigh), and Mikkel Damsgaard (knee) are all close to returning, but Wednesday’s game may be too soon for the trio, while Kristopher Ajer will be evaluated after pulling out of the starting XI shortly before kickoff in the win over Luton due to a foot problem.
If Ajer is ruled out, Saman Ghoddos could step in as a makeshift right-back, with midfielder Vitaly Janelt set to return to the left side of defense, and Baptiste pushing to start in the engine room ahead of the suspended Norgaard.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Igor, Milner; Gilmour, Gross; Adingra, Pedro, Mitoma; Ferguson
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Ajer, Mee, Pinnock, Janelt; Onyeka, Baptiste, Yarmolyuk; Mbeumo, Maupay, Wissa
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