Our picks

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Crystal Palace: 04/12/2018 – match preview and predicted starting XI’s

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Crystal Palace

Date: 04/12/2018

K/O: 19:45

Venue: Amex Stadium

Referee: Kevin Friend

After the thrilling events of super Sunday’s derby day, it’s now time for Brighton and Crystal Palace to renew hostilities in their own storied rivalry, the M23 derby. Although the match is one that strikes many as a perplexing pairing to be ‘local rivals’, if you dig deep towards the 1970s and beyond, you’ll find two clubs with similar backgrounds and fixtures with unsavoury scenes.

The Seagulls head into the game off the back of a 2-1 win over Huddersfield, a win which saw their first comeback victory in a Premier League match, after falling behind to Zanka’s headed goal. Brighton goals came from the heads of Shane Duffy and Florin Andone, both of which came about from superb deliveries off Sullay March, who has certainly impressed this season.

Much like their hosts, Palace travel south to the Amex Stadium buoyed by their first win since the middle of September – an impressively dominant 2-0 victory over a sorry Burnley side. Unlike previous fixtures, Palace were only hindered by their inefficiency of converting the chances they created, a problem that has plagued them all season long. They had 29 shots at goal against Burnley yet only managed to convert twice and this situation will have to be solved quickly as it is hard to imagine them having nigh on 30 shots in every game for the rest of the campaign.

The record between the two sides since the turn of the century falls in favour of the visitors, with Palace winning six of the ten league encounters. However, the three meetings between the sides last season saw a draw and a victory for each side with Brighton’s victory coming in the FA Cup third round. In the league, the Seagulls only managed a 0-0 draw at home whilst losing 3-2 on the road at Selhurst Park.

In the 3-2 game at Selhurst Park, it was two goals from Palace talisman, and perennial pantomime villain for the Seagulls fans, Wilfried Zaha; that gave the South London side the bragging rights for the season. It is a fixture that the Ivorian has done well in historically, with five goals and an assist in the eight games he’s played against the Sussex side. On the other hand, it’s a former Palace striker that is the biggest threat for the home side. Glenn Murray, who scored his 100th goal for Brighton in the recent draw with Leicester, scored in two of the three meetings last season, including the winner to take Brighton through to the FA Cup fourth round. The veteran striker came off the bench late on last time out against Huddersfield, so should be feeling fresh and sharp to face his former employers.

Team News

Brighton & Hove Albion

As mentioned above, Murray started the last game on the bench and was given a much-needed rest meaning he should be fit for Tuesday’s encounter. Similar can be said for defender Bruno, whose injury scare was just a case of cramp, meaning he should be fully fit and ready for selection in midweek. This will probably see Chris Hughton reverting back to his favoured side with Murray leading the line for the Seagulls.



Having said this, the game on Tuesday may come too soon for Iranian forward Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who may recover from his thigh injury in time to face Burnley on the weekend. Also missing out will be midfielder Dale Stephens, who serves the final game of his suspension.

Crystal Palace

There were no fresh injuries from the game against Burnley for Roy Hodgson to get a headache over. Therefore, the Palace manager will probably go with the same side as chosen in the last few outings, with the likes of Townsend, Meyer, and McArthur all impressing.

It is the long term absentees that take the focus of the medical team, with all three hoping to return to action this month. Scott Dann and Connor Wickham look close to making returns, both have been training with the squad for a couple of weeks and could return to the bench soon. Christian Benteke is still out, with the earliest date for his return looking like Boxing Day.

Predicted Starting XI’s

Brighton & Hove Albion (4-5-1): Ryan; Bruno, Duffy, Dunk, Bernardo; March, Pröpper, Bissouma, Izquierdo, Groß; Murray

Crystal Palace (4-4-2): Hennessey; Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Sakho, van Aanholt; McArthur, Kouyate, Milivojevic, Meyer; Townsend, Zaha

Score Prediction: Brighton & Hove Albion 1 Crystal Palace 1

This past weekend has shown that it is pretty impossible to predict what’s going to happen in a derby game, but they tend to be very close affairs. With the defensive strength of both teams, it will be hard for the likes of Zaha and Murray to get onto the scoresheet. However, both can also have their moments when mistakes are made – it’ll be whoever can take advantage of those moments who will take the bragging rights home.

Migtavius

A Crystal Palace fan in my 30's, I co-host a podcast about Fantasy Premier League (FPL) with YouTuber Nymfria.

Can easily contact me on Twitter, where I'm normally posting somethings about some stuff.

90MAAT News Now

Premier League Table

90MAAT Social Media

ScoopDragon Football News Network

Search The Site