Brighton vs Brentford Preview: Team News & Prediction
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It is the ‘Moneyball’ derby at the AMEX Stadium this week as Brighton and Hove Albion look to re-assert themselves against a Brentford side also suffering from a recent wobble in form.
Kick-off date/time: Friday 27th December, 2024: UK – 7:30pm / US ET – 2:30pm / US PT – 11:30am
How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – Not televised
How to watch online: UK – Amazon Prime / US – Peacock
Brighton Preview: Seagulls have stopped soaring
Fabian Hurzeler’s reign in charge of Brighton and Hove Albion has been an impressive one but the Seagulls have slipped away from the European spots and into the middle-of-the-table after an indifferent run of form over the last month or so.
The Seagulls come into this one on the back of a 1-1 draw with West Ham United at the London Stadium in their most recent outing last weekend. That frustrating result, in which they took a second-half lead, means they are winless in their last five matches.
Brentford Preview: Bees have stopped buzzing
Thomas Frank and his Brentford side had been relentless and unbeaten at the Gtech Community Stadium until the Bees suffered a 2-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest at the weekend thanks to goals in either half from Ola Aina and Anthony Elanga.
The west Londoners have slipped into the bottom-half of the table and have now suffered four defeats in their last five matches across all competitions with fans left frustrated by the heavy rotation in their EFL Cup quarter-final against Newcastle United last week.
Brighton Team News: Potential March return
Solly March has been a long-term absentee for the hosts but he is inching closer to a return and could play this week as well as centre-back Adam Webster. Mats Wieffer is expected to be fine, too, after being substituted due to injury last weekend.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Baleba, Wieffer; Gruda, Pedro, Mitoma; Rutter
Unavailable: Kadioglu (Injured), Hinshelwood (Injured), Milner (Injured), Welbeck (Injured)
Questionable: Webster (Injured), March (Fitness), Wieffer (Injured)
Brentford Team News: Defensive injuries
Thomas Frank has a couple of defensive injury issues ahead of this weekend with both Ethan Pinnock and Kristoffer Ajer set to be unavailable for ‘weeks’ according to Frank. Sepp van den Berg is also not yet ready to be available but could return for the next match day.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, Mee, Lewis-Potter; Janelt, Norgaard, Damsgaard; Mbeumo, Wissa, Schade
Unavailable: Pinnock (Injured), Ajer (Injured), Van den Berg (Injured), Hickey (Injured), Henry (Fitness), Dasilva (Injured), Jensen (Injured), Nunes (Injured), Thiago (Injured)
Questionable:
Brighton vs Brentford Prediction
Brighton have struggled for a bit of consistency of late and some supporters were concerned that their performances at the start of this season were underwhelming to the point where results were always going to fall away after a summer in which they spent over £200 million. They now face a Brentford side that have been very entertaining to watch with their 17 matches consisting of 64 goals thus far. Given that, both teams scoring looks a good bet for this one down on the south coast.
Brighton vs Brentford Tip: Both teams to score
