A tantalising battle between two European outsiders takes place at the Amex Stadium on Saturday afternoon, as Brighton & Hove Albion host Brentford in the Premier League.
Both sides are locked together on 42 points in the table, but the seventh-placed Seagulls boast a superior goal difference and two games in hand on their upcoming visitors.
Match preview
© Reuters
Ending the Grimsby Town FA Cup fairytale in merciless fashion, Brighton punched their ticket to Wembley for the semi-finals with a 5-0 demolition job of the Mariners just before the international break, with the up-and-coming Evan Ferguson netting a brace on the day.
Prior to setting up a final-four encounter with Manchester United, the Seagulls put the final nail in Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace coffin with a 1-0 Premier League win over their M23 rivals, keeping them firmly in the European mix amid rumoured interest in Roberto De Zerbi from Tottenham Hotspur.
The Seagulls ought to be in no danger of losing their attack-minded coach to the North London giants, though, and they are one of three sides boasting 42 points at this stage of the season alongside Liverpool and Brentford - sandwiched in between their two adversaries on goal difference - but they have played the fewest games out of the trio.
Putting five past Grimsby without reply marked Brighton's sixth home win from their last seven matches in all tournaments - the one aberration being that dampening 1-0 loss to Fulham - and they have kept three clean sheets in each of their last three in front of their own supporters.
In fact, Manor Solomon's late effort for Fulham is the only Premier League home goal that Brighton have conceded in 2023 so far, but out of their four Amex losses in the top flight this term, three have come against teams from the capital.
© Reuters
With the wins somewhat drying up, the international break came at an ideal time for Thomas Frank's crop, who could only glean a point from the visit of relegation-threatened Leicester City to the Gtech Community Stadium two weekends ago.
Goals either side of the break from Mathias Jensen and Harvey Barnes ensured that the spoils would be shared in the capital, although the Bees had to see out the final few moments with 10 men after substitute Shandon Baptiste was given his marching orders for two bookable offences within the space of a few minutes.
Claiming just two victories from their last six Premier League battles has harmed the visitors' top-seven bid, but they will leapfrog Brighton and potentially Liverpool - who tackle title-chasing Manchester City - into the top six with a satisfactory result here.
Away-day deficiencies have plagued Brentford throughout the season, though, as the Bees have just three wins to their name from 13 Premier League matches on the road this term, but just one of their last 15 games in the top flight has ended in defeat.
Ivan Toney was at the double when Brentford put Brighton to the sword 2-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium in October, but the Seagulls won by the same scoreline at the Amex on Boxing Day 2021, and not since their days in the Championship in 2015 have Brentford done the double over their South Coast hosts.
Team News
© Reuters
Already known to be without long-term absentees Jakub Moder and Adam Lallana, Brighton should be able to count on the return of Tariq Lamptey, who returned to first-team training from a knee injury earlier this week, but Jeremy Sarmiento has sustained a foot fracture and could miss the rest of the season.
With a plethora of other South American-based players representing their countries in March, De Zerbi could face a few late calls on Saturday morning, with the likes of Pervis Estupinan, Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo facing a taxing long journey home.
However, there is currently nothing to suggest that the trio will not be able to take their usual spots in the XI, and the same can be said of Ferguson, whose qualities were lauded by none other than Kylian Mbappe before Ireland's narrow loss to France.
As for Brentford, Baptiste will sit on the naughty step for his one-game ban after seeing red against Leicester - the 24-year-old had replaced goalscorer Jensen, who came off with an issue, but that did not prevent him from playing for Denmark in their Euro 2024 qualifiers.
Keane Lewis-Potter, Vitaly Janelt, Kristoffer Ajer and Aaron Hickey make up a quartet of injury concerns for the visitors, but a fit-again Mads Roerslev could take the latter's place at right-back, as Mikkel Damsgaard continues in the Danish-themed engine room in place of Janelt.
Fresh from winning his first senior cap for England, 16-goal striker Toney takes his place at the tip of the attack for Brentford, having racked up 10 goals involvements (eight strikes, two assists) in 12 away games this season.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Steele; Lamptey, Dunk, Colwill, Estupinan; Caicedo, Gross; March, Mac Allister, Mitoma; Ferguson
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Raya; Roerslev, Mee, Pinnock, Henry; Jensen, Norgaard, Damsgaard; Mbeumo, Toney, Wissa
We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Brentford
The Premier League's best and worst set-piece sides go head-to-head here, with Brentford netting 19 goals from dead-ball situations, and Brighton conceding 14 times from such scenarios.
The Bees should therefore feel optimistic of wiping out the hosts' clean sheet, but De Zerbi's attacking masters have otherwise kept the back door shut extremely well at home, and Brentford's spate of failures on the road should tip the scales in the Seagulls' favour.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
