The first of two Friday night Premier League games arrives at the Amex as Brighton take on Brentford on the south coast.
After a brilliant start to the season, Fabian Hurzeler's Seagulls have slipped into mid-table obscurity, having endured a rather miserable run of form. Brighton are winless in five and without a win on home soil after they came from behind to defeat the champions 2-1 on November 9.
Still, the tightly packed nature of a chaotic division means The Seagulls are just a few triumphs away from the table making for much nicer reading.
Brentford have struggled on their travels this season, but Thomas Frank's outfit have nevertheless exceeded expectations following the departure of Ivan Toney. They suffered their first home defeat of the season at the weekend and have dropped to 12th in the table, but many were concerned in pre-season that the west Londoners would flirt with relegation talk.
However, the Bees should start getting results on the road.
Here it is 90 minutes Friday's Premier League clash preview.
Brighton vs Brentford H2H results (last five matches)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Brighton |
Brentford |
|---|---|
|
West Ham 1-1 Brighton – 21/12/24 |
Brentford 0-2 Nottingham Forest – 21/12/24 |
|
Brighton 1-3 Crystal Palace – 15/12/24 |
Newcastle 3-1 Brentford – 18/12/24 |
|
Leicester 2-2 Brighton – 08/12/24 |
Chelsea 2-1 Brentford – 15/12/24 |
|
Fulham 3-1 Brighton – 05/12/24 |
Brentford 4-2 Newcastle – 07/12/24 |
|
Brighton 1-1 Southampton – 29/11/24 |
Aston Villa 3-1 Brentford – 04/12/24 |
|
country |
TV channel/live streaming |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Amazon Prime Video |
|
United States |
peacock |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network 2 Canada |
Hurzeler hopes to have Mats Wieffer available for the visit of Brentford after the Dutchman limped off having just scored his first Brighton goal on Saturday. The Dutchman, if fit, will be an excellent partner to Carlos Baleba in the middle of the park.
Yankuba Minteh should come in for Brajan Gruda on the right, and there could be recalls to the squad for Adam Webster and Solly March. Danny Welbeck, however, misses out again with an ankle injury.
The Seagulls are also predictably without Jack Hinshelwood, James Milner and Ferdi Kadioglu.
Brighton predicted formation against Brentford (4-2-3-1): Bridge; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Baleba, Wieffer; Minteh, Pedro, Mitoma; Ferguson.
Brentford's injury list is extensive and their problems only worsened at the weekend after Mads Roerslev was forced off with a head injury picked up in the second half. He likely won't play a role on Friday.
The Bees will be hoping to have summer signing Igor Thiago available soon after a long absence, but the striker is currently struggling with an illness and may not feature until the new year. Ethan Pinnock, Josh Dasilva, Mathias Jensen, Rico Henry and Sepp van den Berg are also likely to return next month.
Aaron Hickey is out for a longer period of time with a thigh injury.
Brentford predicted formation against Brighton (4-3-3): Spots; Ajer, Collins, Mee, Lewis-Potter; Norgaard, Janelt, Damsgaard; Mbeumo, Wissa, Carvalho.
Saturday's defeat looked like a crushing blow for Brentford as Frank rested key players for their Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat at Newcastle. What was it all about?
Friday's visitors are in a tough spot and although Brighton are among the weakest teams in the Premier League in December, you get the feeling they are closing in on victory. They were extremely unlucky not to get all three points at West Ham on Saturday.
While Brentford were once the sort of team capable of stifling Brighton's excellent possession and wreaking havoc on the counter, their poor defensive performances this season suggest the hosts should have plenty to cheer about on Friday .
This has resulted in a straight game for Hurzeler's men, with the visitors losing four games in all competitions.