Brighton vs Wolverhampton - Team News, Statistics & Analysis before Saturday's big fixture
On Saturday, with kick off at three o’clock in the afternoon, Brighton & Hove Albion host Wolverhampton Wanderers in what will likely be an extremely entertaining mid-table clash. Both sides head into the fixture in good form over their recent games, with the hosts Brighton, winning their last two games by one goal to nil. Chris Hughton’s side have encountered a new sense of joy after failing to keep any clean sheets nor win any games away from home prior to this two-game spell of success. The first one-nil victory came at home against a very in-form, confident West Ham United side who had just seen off the likes of Manchester United and Everton. The week after, the Albion travelled to Tyneside, beating Newcastle United by a single goal. Though displaying a more unconvincing performance this time round, Hughton and his squad returned to the South Coast with a delight at the three points they had gained.
Visitors Wolves have also been rewarded with numerous points on the board in recent times, with a 1-1 draw away at Manchester United and a 2-0 home victory at home to Southampton being the highlights of their past five matches in all competitions. This run abruptly came to an end last weekend, though, as they suffered in a 2-0 loss away to Watford, contrasting completely to their games before-hand. Wolverhampton Wanderers’ manager Nuno Espírito Santo expects none other than an immediate reaction on Saturday afternoon, with there being “no excuses” to not fulfil his expectations.
This will be the first top-flight meeting between the two sides since the 1981-82 season, with all six of the top-flight encounters before this ending in Brighton triumphs between December 1979 and May 1982. Brighton’s 100%-win record against Wolves in the top division is the joint-best 100% record in English top-flight history with the only others joining them with this incredible achievement being Arsenal (vs Reading), Manchester City (vs Bournemouth) and Nottingham Forest (vs Portsmouth).
In recent times Brighton have continued this domination over Wolves, with their last two meetings against them in all competitions (both in the Championship) ending in victories in which the Wanderers didn’t score. In fact, the Seagulls have only conceded one in their last four meetings against Saturday’s opposition, and this wasn’t even scored by a Wolves player, it was an own goal by Connor Goldson on New Year’s Day 2016. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side have struggled with scoring since their introduction back into the Premier League at the start of the season whereas Brighton have been extremely strong in terms of results at home. All looks in the favour of the Albion when considering the history between the two sides.
One hindrance for Brighton that favours Wolves instead is the comparison between the number of players currently side-lined through injury for both teams. The hosts will be without midfield pairing Davy Pröpper and Pascal Groß who are both out of contention with ankle problems, while Glenn Murray is still a doubt after the head injury he suffered against Newcastle. On the other hand, the visitors have a completely clean bill of health and are likely to break their own record set last week, with an unchanged side likely for a tenth consecutive fixture. Florin Andone and José Izquierdo are both back to full match fitness and will only miss out on a start if Hughton decides they don’t fit his tactical approach.
Chris Hughton will likely play with a slightly higher tempo than against Newcastle, allowing for a more mixed match in terms of chances being created. Brighton suffered on the attack last time out, so the job for the manager will be to rectify this to benefit the likelihood of goals being scored by his side in such a crucial fixture. Nuno will also want to score more goals but is less likely to be as adventurous with his team selection due to the success his team has shown defensively this season. Though Wolves fans will want to see a more attacking display, and though it may be needed to fix their poor attacking form, Nuno won’t want to take the risk of affecting his precious defensive record.
The likely lack of Glenn Murray in Brighton’s front line could mean a rare start for either Jürgen Locadia or Florin Andone, two attackers who are both frustrated with a lack of first team action and are both also yet to impress for the Albion. The expected replacement is Locadia rather than Andone due to the fact he has had experience in the Premier League and Andone hasn’t. This would offer a little more for the Albion in the channels, with Locadia undoubtedly having an abundance of pace and strength. Picking Andone would offer a better probability of chances being finished off but then again not as many chances will go through him as he isn’t a ‘target man’ as such. There are definitely arguments for and against both players replacing Murray in this scenario so it will be very interesting to see who Chris Hughton decides to select on Saturday afternoon.
Wolves lack of goals, Brighton’s immense history of rocking sides at their home ground and a lack of a true goal-scorer for the hosts in this fixture leaves all hope of a correct score prediction up in the air. It is the definition of a close call.
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