Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Premier League clash between Brighton & Hove Albion and Leeds United, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Brighton & Hove Albion and Leeds United will be looking to climb into the top half of the Premier League table when they square off at the Amex Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams butt heads for the first time since March 2023 when they shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw at Elland Road in the top flight.
Match preview
After putting together a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions, picking up eight Premier League points across four of those matches, Brighton have since suffered back-to-back defeats in the space of five days against Manchester United and Arsenal.
The Seagulls suffered a 4-2 top-flight defeat at Old Trafford last weekend before coming up short in a 2-0 loss against a weakened Arsenal outfit tin the fourth round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday, a game in which Fabian Hurzeler’s side failed to convert any of their 17 shots across the 90 minutes.
While Hurzeler stated after the match that it was a “strange feeling” for his Brighton side to not progress to the quarter-finals, the German rued his team’s missed opportunities in a “do-or-die game” against the Gunners and vows to give the “right support” to ensure that his players improve.
Sitting 13th in the Premier League table and five points behind the top four, Brighton’s defensive frailties have been evident for some time, as they have conceded in 20 of their last 21 top-flight matches, while they have only kept a clean sheet in 17% of their games under Hurzeler (eight out of 47) – the lowest ratio of any of the four managers to take charge of the Seagulls in the division.
However, Brighton will welcome Saturday’s clash with Leeds, as they have kept a clean sheet in each of their last seven home league encounters with the Whites – their longest run without conceding against an opponent in their entire history. As for Leeds, they have never gone eight away league matches without scoring against another team (also seven against Liverpool between March 1980 and August 1993).
Leeds ended a three-game winless run in the Premier League when they beat a struggling West Ham United side 2-1 at Elland Road a week last Friday – their third top-flight win of the season since securing promotion as champions of the second tier.
Sitting 15th in the table and six points above the relegation zone, Leeds are looking to record back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since November 2022. The Whites have followed up their last six top-flight victories with a draw and five defeats since they last won consecutive matches in the division.
In October, Daniel Farke’s side had 26 more shots than their Premier League opponents (48 for, 22 faced), the third-best positive differential behind leaders Arsenal and Manchester City (both 27). Despite this, the West Yorkshire outfit conceded more goals (five) than they scored (three), with their opponents enjoying a 23% shot conversion rate, while they converted just 6% of their attempts.
A tricky trip to Brighton is next on the agenda for Leeds, who have failed to come out on top in any of their last nine away league meetings with the Seagulls (D3 L6), since securing a 3-0 victory in November 2009 when they were competing in League One under former boss Simon Grayson.
Leeds have played more matches at the Amex Stadium than at any other ground in their history without recording a single win (nine). Remarkably, across their last seven visits without scoring, 30 different Leeds players have taken a shot without success, including three current squad members – Jack Harrison (four shots), Pascal Struijk and Daniel James (two shots each).
Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:
L D W D W L
Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):
W W D W L L
Leeds United Premier League form:
L W D L L W
Team News
Brighton trio Solly March, Adam Webster (both knee) and Jack Hinshelwood (ankle) all remain sidelined with injuries, while Kaoru Mitoma (ankle), Joel Veltman (calf) and Brajan Gruda (knee) will all be assessed ahead of kickoff.
James Milner, who made his Premier League debut back in November 2002 for Leeds, is also an injury doubt to face his former club after missing the midweek defeat at Arsenal with a “small muscle issue”, so out-of-form Carlos Baleba may continue in midfield alongside one, or both, of Yasin Ayari and Diego Gomez.
Former Leeds forward Georginio Rutter will likely get the nod to continue in a central role behind striker Danny Welbeck, who has scored five goals in his last four PL appearances, while 18-year-old Charalampos Kostoulas is fit to feature in some capacity despite coming off at half time against Arsenal.
As for Leeds, Farke could have a fully-fit squad at his disposal, as both Willy Gnonto and Gabriel Gudmundsson have taken part in training this week. The former is not ready to start, though, having only recently recovering from a hernia operation.
Gudmundsson, who was forced off with just a “bruise” against West Ham, should be fine to start at left-back and could be joined in a four-man backline by Joe Rodon, Jaka Bijol, and Jayden Bogle, protecting Lucas Perri between the sticks.
Summer signing Anton Stach will be hoping to force his way back into the starting lineup, but Farke may decide to stick with Sean Longstaff, Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka in a three-man midfield, while Daniel James will push Brendan Aaronson for a start on the right flank.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Wieffer, Dunk, Van Hecke, Kadioglu; Baleba, Ayari; Minteh, Rutter, Gomez; Welbeck
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Perri; Bogle, Rodon, Bijol, Gudmundsson; Longstaff, Ampadu, Tanaka; Aaronson, Calvert-Lewin, Okafor
We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Leeds United
A combined total of 29 goals have been conceded by Brighton (15) and Leeds (14) in the Premier League this season and we expect both teams to take advantage of each other’s defensive frailties this weekend.
Even though the Seagulls could be missing a number of first-team players through injury, Hurzeler should still field a strong enough squad to outscore the Whites at the Amex, where they are yet to lose this season (W2 D2).
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