EPL Betting Preview: Brighton vs Tottenham Hotspur

December 28, 2023

Brighton take on Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League at the Amex Stadium on Thursday night.

Having won four of their last five meetings with Brighton across all competitions, Spurs are now bidding to claim three consecutive league wins over the Seagulls for the first time ever.

However, Harry Kane had scored in each of those last four victories and Spurs will need a new hero on their first trip to Brighton following his departure over the summer.

Having lost their last two matches against Tottenham at the Amex Stadium, Brighton are looking to claim their first home win over the North London side since January 2021.

Surprisingly, all 12 league meetings between the two sides since Brighton's promotion produced three or fewer goals - the only exception being Tottenham's 3-1 victory in the FA Cup in February 2022.

Brighton Betting Preview (+160 at Everygame)

Roberto De Zerbi's side have not lost a game at the Amex Stadium since a surprise 3-2 defeat to AEK Athens in the Europa League on 21 September and the Italian tactician will hope that his players can maintain more consistency this winter, before the resumption of their European quest in March.

Brighton's hopes of following up their debut European campaign with another have taken hit after hit over the past months. Given the club's policy to develop young talents by hurling them into the deep end and the mounting injury list, Roberto De Zerbi's side have only beat bottom-half clubs Nottingham Forest and Brentford in their last 12 Premier League matches (losing four).

However, The Seagulls have done well in the Europa League group stage as they finished top of Group B (4-1-1 record), despite failing to win any of their opening two games, thus advancing to the round of 16.

Having won just two of their last 12 top-flight matches, Brighton sit 9^th in the Premier League table on 27 points, but a win against Tottenham should be enough to move them to seventh spot.

Brighton were held to a 1-1 draw at rivals Crystal Palace in the so-called 'M23 derby' last week. Roberto De Zerbi's side are now 9^th in the table, four points off Manchester United in sixth and with a game in hand.

Danny Welbeck's brilliant header rescued a point for Brighton at Selhurst Park. The England veteran recovered from a hamstring injury to score his second goal of the campaign and first one since he opened the scoring in Brighton's 3-1 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in mid-September.

Evan Ferguson remained an unused substitute, while Jakub Moder, Adam Lallana, Facundo Buonanotte and the hero himself - Danny Welbeck - were all introduced as second-half substitutes.

Adam Webster, Joel Veltman, Tariq Lamptey, Ansu Fati, Julio Enciso and Solly March are all sidelined for Brighton, with Kaoru Mitoma and Simon Adingra the latest names to join the club's ever-growing injury list.

Mitoma is expected to be out for up to six weeks with an ankle injury and the Japanese star will miss the Asian Cup, while fellow winger Simon Adingra, who was also forced off against Crystal Palace, is also facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines that will keep the Ivory Coast international out of the looming Africa Cup of Nations.

Roberto De Zerbi, however, will be boosted by the return of Pervis Estupinan, who is fit enough to be named in the matchday squad but not ready to start.

Cameroonian youngster Carlos Baleba, who joined Brighton this summer, should continue in the middle, while Pascal Gross could start in a more advanced role.

Teenager Jack Hinshelwood hopes to keep his starting spot at right-back, though veteran James Milner can also start.

Tottenham Hotspur Betting Preview (+145 at Everygame)

Ange Postecoglou's men are back in action on Thursday evening as they make the trip down south to face an inconsistent Brighton side at the Amex Stadium.

Spurs are now fifth in the Premier League standings following Manchester City's 3-1 win at Everton on Wednesday evening. However, Ange Postecouglou's side can regain fourth spot with a victory on the south coast on Thursday.

Despite all injuries and suspensions, Spurs showed grit to beat Everton at the weekend, having swept aside Newcastle confidently in the previous game.

After stumbling in November, some would be bold enough to say that Spurs have revived their title aspirations with their three consecutive wins over Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Everton this month.

Boasting the league's best away record (5-3-1) at the start of this round (prior to the latest wins of Liverpool and Manchester City), Spurs should be confident of replicating their back-to-back victories away to Brighton over the last two seasons.

In yet another huge blow for Postecoglou's selection, Cristian Romero will miss the majority of January - Postecoglou has now revealed. The Argentine had recently served a three-game ban before his return to the Tottenham backline for the London derby against West Ham earlier this month.

Joining key players Micky van de Ven and James Maddison on the injury list are Ivan Perisic, Rodrigo Bentancur, Manor Solomon, and Ryan Sessegnon. Furthermore, Yves Bissouma, who scored for Brighton during their 3-1 FA Cup defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in February 2022, still serves a four-match ban and will miss the match against his former club.

To make things even worse, Tottenham will lose captain Son Heung-min for at least a couple of weeks as the South Korean ace will likely depart for Asian Cup duty right after the Bournemouth game on New Year’s Eve.

Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr will also leave for Africa Cup of Nations duties in early January, where they will link up with Mali and Senegal respectively.

With four goals in his last three appearances, Richarlison will be looking to continue his strong form on Thursday evening. The Brazilian boasts three goals in 10 league appearances against Brighton, but they all were for Everton between November 2018 and January 2020.

As a result, Romero, Maddison, and Son, as the three players that form Postecoglou's leadership group, will all likely be unavailable which means a new player will be wearing the captain's armband next month. The only time the trio have not featured was during Tottenham's League Cup penalty-shootout defeat at Fulham in August when Ben Davies captained the squad.

The experienced Welshman has been solid since stepping in for the injured van de Ven and his responsibilities will surely increase during Romero's absence. With that said, the Wales defender will likely be offered it once again, especially following his last few months of performances.

Elsewhere, Destiny Udogie is set to return for Tottenham, having served a one-game suspension and should replace Emerson Royal, who started against Everton last time out.

Meanwhile, the North London outfit have recalled 19-year-old striker Dane Scarlett from an unsuccessful loan at Championship side Ipswich. Scarlett, who made 12 appearances, each of them as a substitute, and failed to score, will remain at Tottenham for the remainder of the season.

Giovani Lo Celso and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg are also options as Ange Postecouglou may opt to reshuffle his pack, with the former making some decent appearances and scoring in back-to-back matches against Aston Villa and Manchester City a few weeks ago.

Possible Starting Lineups of Brighton and Tottenham Hotspur

Brighton: Bart Verbruggen - Jack Hinshelwood, Jan-Paul van Hecke, Lewis Dunk, Igor Julio - Billy Gilmour, Carlos Baleba - Facundo Buonanotte, Pascal Gross, Joao Pedro - Danny Welbeck. (4-2-3-1)

Tottenham Hotspur: Guglielmo Vicario - Destiny Udogie, Ben Davies, Eric Dier, Pedro Porro - Pape Sarr, Oliver Skipp - Son Heung-Min, Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski - Richarlison. (4-2-3-1)

Spooky Express Betting Prediction

While Brighton are still bidding to keep their first clean sheet in the Premier League this season, Spurs are vying to become the first side this campaign to keep Roberto De Zerbi's men scoreless at the Amex Stadium.

Yet to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League since a 3-0 win at Arsenal in May, Brighton have at least lost just one of their nine home games this season (4-4-1).

Spurs, on the other hand, have conceded in all but one of their last nine Premier League matches. Their only clean sheet came in the 2-0 victory at Nottingham Forest earlier this month.

Spooky Express Free Play: Outcome And Totals - 1X (Brighton or Draw) and Over 2.5 Goals +145 at Everygame for 5/10 Units

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