Brighton & Hove Albion vs Tottenham Hotspur
Date: 22/09/2018
K/O: 17.30 hours
Venue: The Amex Stadium
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
TV: BT Sport
Brighton host Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur on the south coast in the Saturday late kick-off, with the North London side aiming to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat across all competitions.
Tottenham’s first game in the 2018/19 Champions League group stage saw them travel across the continent to Italy, playing away against Inter Milan on Tuesday night. Despite going ahead courtesy of a Christian Eriksen strike, the Lilywhites succumbed to the intense pressure created in the cauldron of the San Siro, conceding two late goals and losing their third successive game for the first time in the Mauricio Pochettino era.
After defeats to Watford, Liverpool and now recently Inter, Saturday’s contest against Brighton holds an added dimension of pressure and uncertainty for a Spurs side already under the spotlight and facing serious questions over their credentials to challenge towards the upper echelons of the Premier League table.
For Brighton, however, the start of the 2018/19 campaign has been more fruitful, with the Seagulls aiming to build on the retention of their Premier League status after debuting in the competition last year. A memorable 3-2 victory over Manchester United last month stands out as their best result of the campaign so far, whilst also fighting back to draw 2-2 against both Fulham and Southampton.
Glen Murray is in the talismanic form from last season that saw calls for his inclusion in Gareth Southgate’s final 23 for Russia, whilst Anthony Knockaert seems to be truly finding his feet in the Premier League. These are promising signs for Chris Hughton, though his team will come up against a Spurs side desperate to prevent any further defeats; Pochettino will view this as a simply huge game in the context of Tottenham’s season.
Team News
Brighton
Chris Hughton’s side have started the 2018/19 campaign similarly to their last, with the Seagulls having a near fully-fit squad available for selection. Tomer Hemed remains sidelined whilst Brighton may run last-minute fitness checks on José Izquierdo and Florin Andone ahead of Saturday’s clash.
Pascal Gross missed out from Hughton’s match-day squad against Southampton for the first time since arriving from Ingolstadt just over 16 months ago, and it is expected that the German may be omitted again as a precautionary measure.
Despite high-profile, big-money signings in the striking department in the form of Alireza Jahanbakhsh (club-record £17m fee from AZ Alkmaar) and Jurgen Locadia from PSV Eindhoven for £14m, a then club-record fee, neither have been presently able to displace veteran Glen Murray or last season’s surprise package Gross from the starting XI.
Hughton will be pleased that the competition for places is bringing out the best from players already in his ranks, though the veteran manager could shuffle his pack for what will be Brighton’s biggest test of the season when Spurs visit the Amex.
Tottenham Hotspur
Dele Alli and Hugo Lloris were both omitted from the squad that faced Liverpool and Inter Milan with hamstring and calf injuries respectively, and Pochettino has remained coy as to whether either or both of Alli and Lloris could return for the game against Brighton.
Moussa Sissoko remains sidelined, and despite staying in England for the Champions League clash against Inter, Toby Alderweireld and Kieran Trippier are expected to return to the starting XI.
Fringe players Juan Foyth, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Vincent Janssen and Josh Onomah remain out of the picture with medium to long-term injuries, though Son Heung-min‘s recent return to the squad is a huge boost for Pochettino’s
Predicted Starting XI’s
Brighton: Ryan; Montoya, Dunk, Duffy, Bong; Knockaert, Stephens, Propper, March; Gross, Murray.
Tottenham: Vorm; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Dembele, Dier; Moura, Eriksen, Lamela; Kane.
Prediction: Brighton 1 Tottenham 3
The pressure and onus are well and truly on Pochettino, and I expect the Argentinian to galvanise his squad and secure a crucial away win. Kane to net a brace.
