Brighton & Hove Albion meet Bournemouth in a huge Premier League encounter in the race for European qualification.
Victory would lift Brighton up to 10th in the table, whilst Bournemouth can move up to 13th with a win and one point behind their hosts.
Team News
Carlos Baleba is available for Brighton following his return from international duty for Cameroon at Africa Cup of Nations.
Yankuba Minteh (dead leg) is also set to return after he sat out their FA Cup third-round victory at Manchester United.
Mats Wieffer (toe), Stefanos Tzimas (ACL), Solly March and Adam Webster (both knee) remain sidelined.
Bournemouth will be without Enes Unal after he suffered an adductor injury in their FA Cup third-round exit at Newcastle.
Ryan Christie is available following his recovery from a knee injury. but David Brooks (ankle) faces a late fitness check.
Will Dennis (ankle), Ben Doak (hamstring), Tyler Adams, Justin Kluivert (both knee) and Matai Akinmboni (muscle) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Brighton host Bournemouth at AMEX Stadium on Monday 18 January at 8pm GMT, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Brighton have won six of their last nine meetings against Bournemouth (W6, L3).
- Bournemouth have won just one of their last six Premier League visits to Brighton (W1, D1, L4).
- Each of Brighton’s last three meetings against Bournemouth ended in 2-1 results, of which the Seagulls won two of those clashes.
- Brighton have won just one of their last eight league matches (W1, D4, L3).
- Just seven of Bournemouth’s 26 points this season were claimed away from home (W1, D4, L5).
Prediction
Currently sat seven points off fourth position after various teams slipped up this weekend, Brighton know that this is a huge must-win if want to keep pace with those above them.
Confidence will also be high amongst the Seagulls after a clinical FA Cup win at Man Utd, where they defensively rode their luck at times but were more polished in their final touches and they might just need more of the same luck here.
Bournemouth meanwhile might be disappointed to have exited the FA Cup on penalties at Newcastle after a 3-3 draw but they did produced a gutsy display to twice come from behind across both normal then extra time, which shows that their attacking quality is back on top form but defensive errors do remain their weak point.
I however do feel that this will be a close game because both teams do have in-form attacks but can be prone to defensive sloppiness on occasions, so a draw might be a fair call.
Prediction: Brighton 1-1 Bournemouth
Result: Brighton 1-1 Bournemouth
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