By OkayGoal
Brighton are finally home after five straight away games, and the only real selection question for Fabian Hurzeler is whether Chema Andres has shaken off the small problem that kept him out of the trip to Madrid.
The Seagulls host Brentford at the Amex on Sunday 8 November (2pm UK time), sitting third in the table, with the Bees sixth. Both head coaches will lay a wreath before kick-off as the club marks Remembrance Sunday, and the game is a sell-out.
Brighton arrive on the back of two 1-0 wins: last Saturday’s victory at Manchester City, then a patient win at Getafe on Thursday, which was a third clean sheet in a row. The squad only landed back in Sussex on Friday lunchtime, so expect Hurzeler to go back to the side that beat City.
Brighton predicted lineup vs Brentford
Brighton predicted lineup vs Brentford (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Costinha, Vuskovic, Dunk, Boscagli; Gross, Chema; Gomez, Ayari, De Cuyper; Kostoulas
Bart Verbruggen: chasing a fourth clean sheet in a row
Verbruggen has kept three straight clean sheets in all competitions, and Brighton have kept one in each of their last nine Premier League wins, including all six this season. He starts.
Defence: Dunk back to lead them out
Costinha: the right-back spot is his
Costinha has made the right-back role his own, even with a heavy workload lately. Mats Wieffer and Ferdi Kadioglu are the alternatives, but there’s no reason to change a full-back who has just helped keep City and Getafe out.
Luka Vuskovic and Lewis Dunk: the first-choice pairing
Dunk came off at half-time in Spain, but Hurzeler made clear that was planned. “We just want to manage him so it was clear that we swap him with Luka at half-time,” he said. That suggests both will be fresh enough to start together again at the Amex.
Olivier Boscagli: left side of the back four
Boscagli keeps the left-back role. With Pascal Struijk still working his way back, there isn’t a serious rival for the spot before the international break.
Is Chema fit to face Brentford?
Pascal Gross: the league’s best creator
Gross has created more chances than anyone in the Premier League this season (24), and only three players have more goal involvements than his seven (three goals, four assists). The one worry is discipline: he’s a booking away from a one-match ban.
Chema Andres: a “big hope”
Chema missed Thursday’s game in Madrid with what Hurzeler called “a small issue”, a tough blow for a player who had sorted tickets for 25 family and friends. Asked whether he’d be ready for Brentford, Hurzeler said he had “a big hope that this will happen”, and the club reported no new injury worries after Getafe. We think he plays. The 21-year-old scored his first Brighton goal in the 3-0 win over Arsenal and was excellent at the Etihad.
Who scores for Brighton?
Diego Gomez and Maxim De Cuyper: width on both sides
Gomez stays on the right and De Cuyper on the left, the same pair who started at the Etihad. Hurzeler has been full of praise for De Cuyper’s impact since he arrived, and the left side is his.
Yasin Ayari: the City match-winner
Ayari scored the only goal at the Etihad, and he keeps the No.10 role behind the striker.
Charalampos Kostoulas: going for three in a row at home
The 19-year-old has scored in Brighton’s last two Premier League home games, the wins over Arsenal and Crystal Palace. Brighton have scored more league goals than anyone this season (24), and they rank first for shot conversion, so the chances will come.
Who’s missing, and what Brentford bring
Evan Ferguson, Kaoru Mitoma, Zadok Yohanna and Stefanos Tzimas are all out. Struijk and Femi Azeez are making good progress but may have to wait until after the break.
Brentford are a tough test. They’re the only side to have scored in every Premier League game this season, they’ve lost just one of their last 11 league matches, and Igor Thiago has scored or assisted in each of his last four games. Hurzeler expects “a very physical game and completely different from Getafe”, adding: “We know it’s a game of long balls. Brentford try to be very physical for the second ball and they have a clear style of play.” Michael Oliver is the referee.
Verdict: the Amex record is on Brighton’s side
Brighton have never lost to Brentford at the Amex in the Premier League (W3 D2), and the Bees have lost their last two league meetings with the Seagulls. Get Chema back, keep the back four that has stopped conceding, and this is a side well set up to go into the break on three straight wins. Here’s how we see Hurzeler lining up:
Brighton predicted lineup vs Brentford (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Costinha, Vuskovic, Dunk, Boscagli; Gross, Chema; Gomez, Ayari, De Cuyper; Kostoulas