Still in with a fighting chance of forcing their way into the European positions, Brighton & Hove Albion visit Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday in their penultimate away game of the Premier League season.
Fabian Hurzeler‘s crop claimed a praiseworthy 1-1 draw with Newcastle United last weekend, whereas the Old Gold’s magnificent winning sequence came to an end at the hands of Manchester City in a 1-0 loss.
Match preview
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Southampton, West Ham United, Ipswich Town, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Leicester City had all fallen to the might of Vitor Pereira‘s Wolves before the Old Gold’s stopover at the Etihad, where recently dethroned champions Man City hosted the best form team the Premier League had to offer.
However, attempting to get one over Pep Guardiola‘s crop on their own turf proved a step too far last Friday night, as Belgian boys Jeremy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne combined for the contest’s only goal as Wolves’ special six-game victorious run was snapped.
Nevertheless, whatever happens from here on in is largely inconsequential for the 13th-placed Old Gold, who cannot crack the top half given 10th-placed Brighton are 11 points ahead, but they could still plunge as low as 17th in the final three gameweeks of the season.
Pereira’s charges do have the chance to write their name into the Molineux annals, though, as with 51 goals scored across the top-flight campaign, Wolves need just one more strike to break their club record for their most in a single Premier League season.
Not since the 1979-80 campaign have Wolves managed 52 goals or more in a top-flight term – they struck 58 that year – and having won three on the spin at home while netting eight goals in the process, a new chapter of history is there to be written this weekend.
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Encouragement can also be taken from Brighton’s shoddy defensive displays of late, as the Seagulls’ streak without a clean sheet stretched to six matches during last weekend’s visit of Newcastle, where Hurzeler’s men lost two points in gut-wrenching circumstances.
Former Magpie Yankuba Minteh inevitably haunted his erstwhile employers with the opening goal in the first half, but after Yasin Ayari was penalised for a late handball, Alexander Isak stroked home his 23rd goal of the Premier League campaign from the penalty spot in the 89th minute.
After Brighton stung West Ham United with a last-gasp goal the weekend before, the tables turned for the South Coast side, who now have just one victory to show from their last eight games in all competitions but are very much still in the Conference League mix.
The 10th-placed visitors have just a one-point deficit to make up to Bournemouth in eighth place, which could suffice for entry into the continent’s tertiary tournament, but taking just one point from their last nine on offer away from home is hardly European-worthy form.
However, October’s engrossing 2-2 draw between Wolves and Brighton means that the Seagulls have avoided defeat in each of their last six Premier League matches against Saturday’s hosts, who also fell to a 3-2 EFL Cup loss to Hurzeler’s side during the earliest weeks of the campaign.
Team News
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Wolves’ efforts at the Etihad were not helped by the absence of towering number nine Jorgen Strand Larsen, who missed out with a minor groin complaint, but the Norwegian should be given the thumbs-up to return for Saturday’s game.
Strand Larsen’s return would leave the Old Gold without five infirm players, as Sasa Kalajdzic, Enso Gonzalez, Yerson Mosquera and Leon Chiwone are working their way back from severe knee problems, while backup goalkeeper Sam Johnstone remains out of contention too.
A fit-again Strand Larsen replacing Jean-Ricner Bellegarde ought to be the only change considered by Pereira, but with nothing major at stake, the likes of Pablo Sarabia, Goncalo Guedes and Rodrigo Gomes could be banging on the manager’s door for starts.
Likewise, Brighton could also welcome an integral attacker back from the treatment room for Saturday’s showdown, as Kaoru Mitoma was ruled out of the Newcastle draw with a heel concern but will most likely have shaken it off in time for the trip north.
Mitoma and Danny Welbeck are both just one strike away from reaching 10 goals for the Premier League season – a tally that Joao Pedro has already managed – meaning that the Seagulls could have multiple players reach double figures in a Premier League campaign for the first time ever.
Solly March may also be fit enough to return from a knock to the knee, but James Milner (thigh), Georginio Rutter (ankle) and Ferdi Kadioglu (ankle) remain in the care of the doctors, and Pedro serves the final game of his three-match suspension.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Doherty, Agbadou, Toti; Semedo, Andre, Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Munetsi, Cunha; Larsen
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Veltman, Dunk, Van Hecke, Estupinan; Baleba, Ayari; Minteh, O’Riley, Mitoma; Welbeck
We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
No sheets should be clean by the close of play on Saturday, as Brighton and Wolves have conceded from a higher share of shots than all other teams in the Premier League this season (14%).
With two key cogs in Strand Larsen and Mitoma likely to be back in the ranks too, attacking excellence should take centre stage as the two mid-table clubs play out an entertaining draw.
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