Brighton & Hove Albion look to boost their survival hopes as they welcome Leeds United to the AMEX Stadium.
Victory could lift Brighton up to 14th should Southampton fail to beat Leicester on Friday evening, whereas Leeds can consolidate ninth for a second consecutive matchweek with a win,
Team News
Ben White is set to return for Brighton after serving an one match ban in last Saturday’s defeat at Sheffield United.
Percy Tau (hamstring) could also feature but Adam Lallana (calf) is a doubt and could join Florian Andone, Tariq Lamptey (both hamstring) and Solly March (knee) on sidelines.
Leeds could be without Helder Costa after the Angola international suffered a back injury in last Sunday’s goalless draw against Manchester United.
Rodrigo (muscle) could be in contention if declared fit but Liam Cooper (suspension), Adam Forshaw (hip) and Raphinha (knock) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Brighton are unbeaten in seven of their last eight meetings against Leeds (W7, L1).
- Leeds have claimed just two points in their last six trips to Brighton (D2, L4), failing to score in each of their last four visits.
- Graham Potter’s Seagulls have failed to score in their last three matches (D2, L1), which is their longest goal drought since a six game run from 30 March – 23 April 2019.
- Stuart Dallas’ brace at Man City marked the first time since Patrick Bamford’s hattrick at Aston Villa in late October that a Leeds player scored more than once away from Elland Road.
- Brighton lost their only previous home game refereed by Chris Kavanagh this season, controversially losing 3-2 to Manchester United in late September.
Prediction
End product seems to be Brighton’s Achilles at present because they have a great creative flair in their attacking build-up, yet can’t put opportunities away which was their downfall at Sheffield United last weekend on top of poor man marking of David McGoldrick.
Leeds will be delighted with how they dug deep for a point at home to Man Utd last Sunday because they applied strong defensive pressure throughout, yet they ultimately weren’t clinical up front enough when face-to-face with Dean Henderson.
The AMEX Stadium though seems to be quite a hoodoo for Leeds so I am expecting a tough contest but given Brighton’s issues with finishing their chances, Leeds should be able to snatch a result if they can deliver a clinical display.
Prediction: Brighton 0-1 Leeds
Result: Brighton 2-0 Leeds