After an thrilling third round weekend in 2017-18 FA Cup full of shocks and the reigning champion – Arsenal dumped out, the final match sees Crystal Palace travel to Brighton & Hove Albion for second M23 derby in over a month.
The Premier League meeting ended 0-0 amidst disruption outside of the AMEX Stadium, so will this be more entertaining?
Team News
Brighton have a full squad available, excluding Steve Sidwell who remains out with a back injury.
Connor Goldson, Beram Kayal and Jiri Skalak could all feature here.
Crystal Palace meanwhile have lost Scott Dann and Jason Puncheon to knee injuries for rest of season.
Defenders, Joel Ward and Mamadou Sakho are unavailable for this game alongside Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Stat Attack
- Both teams have met twice in FA Cup, Brighton winning their first meeting in November 1932 then Palace won their second tie via a second replay, after the first two games ended in draws.
- Both seasons have reached at least fourth round in last four seasons.
- Brighton have struggled in last five home clashes with the Eagles, losing 6-8 goal wise with a (W1 D1 L3) result record.
Prediction
This should be a competitive game given that both teams will want cup runs this season for motivation, as they fight relegation in the league.
In the league, Brighton have averaged just 1.09 at home whilst Palace has an average 0.55 away goals.
That suggests that we shouldn’t expect much here so and given BT’s luck with their TV picks in this round so far, I am going for a draw.
Prediction: Brighton & Hove Albion 0-0 Crystal Palace
Result: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Crystal Palace