Brighton vs Crystal Palace Preview: Team News & Prediction
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This match between Brighton and Crystal Palace always has that extra bit of spice around it and this is one of the more fascinating Premier League matches of the weekend
Kick-off date/time: Sunday 15th December, 2024: UK – 2:00pm / US ET – 9:00am / US PT – 6:00am
How to watch on TV: UK – Sky Sports / US – USA Network
How to watch online: UK – Sky Go / US – nbc.com
Brighton Preview: Hosts aiming to make it seven unbeaten vs rivals
Brighton welcome rivals Crystal Palace to the Amex seeking to extend their six-game unbeaten run against them. They have won two and drawn four against Crystal Palace and they won this fixture emphatically last year running out 4-1 victors.
They will not need an extra motivation here when taking into account the opposition, but a win will keep them firmly in contention for the European places heading into the all-important Christmas schedule.
Crystal Palace Preview: Eagles continue to turn corner
Palace boss Oliver Glasner will be hoping his side have turned a corner now, after a difficult start to this Premier League campaign and the four-match unbeaten run they are currently on has helped put some distance between themselves and the bottom three.
They have won one and drawn three of their last four and crucially they have achieved positive results against some strong teams like Aston Villa, Newcastle and Man City while also beating Ipswich.
Brighton Team News: Webster only confirmed absentee
As usual, Fabian Hurzeler gave little away in his press conference but Joel Veltman is one of several players who are in with a shout of returning to his squad for this match. Defensively they have not been great in recent weeks and they have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last eight league matches.
Any tweaks to the starting line-up may look to reshuffle the defensive side of their game though it would be no surprise if Danny Welbeck was recalled to the starting eleven.
Predicted XI (3-4-3): Verbruggen; Dunk, Van Hecke, Julio; Adingra, Wieffer, Baleba, Estupinan; Rutter, Joao Pedro, Mitoma
Unavailable: Webster (Injured), Milner (Injured)
Questionable: March (Fitness), Hinshelwood (Injured), Kadioglu (Injured), Veltman (Injured)
Crystal Palace Team News: Franca out, Ward and Wharton unlikely
Oliver Glasner is unlikely to make many if any changes to his starting line-up given the notable improvement in the form of his team. The return of Eze has made a notable difference to the balance of Glasner’s side and the rest of the line-up is pretty settled.
Adam Wharton is edging closer and closer to fitness but given his importance to the team, one would expect them to be extra careful with his reintroduction to the starting eleven.
Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Chalobah, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Hughes, Kamada, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Mateta
Unavailable: Holding (Out of favour), Franca (Injured)
Questionable: Ward (Injured), Wharton (Injured)
Brighton vs Crystal Palace Prediction
This match always seems to provide fireworks and it would be no surprise if we see another highly entertaining match-up. Red cards are pretty common in this fixture and there is always that dynamic, which can ruin the best-laid plans of any manager. Crystal Palace are enjoying some of their best results of the season right now and they meet Brighton who are perhaps going through a little dip in form themselves.
It is the hosts however who have had the edge in recent meetings and with home advantage in their favour, it is hard to go against them. They have drawn four of their last six meetings however and with the Seagulls struggling to keep clean sheets, we could see another one here. Therefore, back both teams to score along with the draw.
Brighton vs Crystal Palace Tip: Draw and both teams to score
