Brighton & Hove Albion meet Newcastle in a mid-table Premier League clash at AMEX Stadium.
Locked on nine points apiece, victory would lift Brighton or Newcastle up to seventh if Sunderland and Everton fail to win elsewhere.
Sixth position is also mathematically possible if Palace lose at home to Bournemouth.
Team News
Joel Veltman could return for Brighton after he missed their 1-1 draw at Wolves due to a calf injury.
Kaoru Mitoma (foot) and Diego Gomez (leg) are doubts, whilst Brajan Gruda is unlikely to feature after he suffered a knee injury at Molineux.
Jack Hinshelwood (ankle), Solly March and Adam Webster (both knee) remain sidelined.
Newcastle will be without Lewis Hall after he suffered a hamstring injury in their 2-0 home win over Nottingham Forest a fortnight ago.
Lewis Miley (calf), Jacob Ramsey (ankle) and Joelinton (fitness) face late fitness checks.
Tino Livramento and Yoane Wissa (both knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Brighton host Newcastle at the AMEX Stadium on Saturday 18 October at 3pm BST, albeit untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Brighton are unbeaten in their last four league meetings against Newcastle (W2, D2).
- Newcastle are yet to win away at Brighton in the Premier League (D5, L3).
- Brighton have kept just one clean sheet in their last four home games against Newcastle.
- Fabian Hurzeler’s Seagulls are yet to keep a clean sheet at home this season (W1, D2).
- Eddie Howe’s Magpies have drawn all three of their away games this season by a 0-0 result.
Prediction
Whilst Brighton have done well to get nine points on the board, they now need to start building a consistent winning run together if wish to push for European qualification after a scrappy but wasteful draw at Wolves.
Hurzeler though will be buoyant by Brighton’s unbeaten home form against Newcastle of which there is a pattern (WDDWDDWD), even if it means that another draw looks like a plausible early call, but they have been strong at home whereas the Magpies are yet to score away in the league this season.
Eddie Howe’s Magpies though are certainly consistent on the road in that they’ve not scored nor conceded in three away trips this campaign, whilst back-to-back clean sheets in their last two games in all competitions will only boost their confidence.
My instinct is that this will be close and given how evenly matched both teams look in terms of stats, I fancy another draw but Newcastle’s defensive away form will end although Brighton probably will leak one too given their defensive vulnerability.
Prediction: Brighton 1-1 Newcastle
Result: Brighton 2-1 Newcastle
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