Brighton vs. Newcastle
Venue: Amex Stadium
Kick off: 9PM
Brighton & Hove Albion will be looking to make it back-to-back wins in the Premier League when they welcome Newcastle United to the Amex tonight for a relegation six-pointer.
Brighton ended a run of three straight Premier League defeats last weekend with a 2-1 victory at Southampton.
Che Adams had cancelled out an effort from Lewis Dunk to leave the scores level at the interval, but Leandro Trossard netted the game’s decisive goal in the 56th minute.
Survival is still very much in the hands of Graham Potter’s side, but there is no downplaying the importance of this weekend’s contest, particularly considering that their next three in England’s top flight are against top-four hopefuls Manchester United, Everton and Chelsea.
Brighton actually have the third-worst home record in the Premier League this season, collecting just 10 points from their 14 matches, recording just one win in the process.
The Seagulls are unbeaten home and away against Newcastle since February 2017, though, and recorded a 3-0 victory when the two sides locked horns in the reverse match back in September.
Newcastle, meanwhile, drew their third straight league game at home to Aston Villa on March 12, with Jamaal Lascelles scoring a leveller in the 94th minute of the contest.
Steve Bruce’s side have only won one of their last seven in England’s top flight, which has left them in 17th position in the table and very much in the relegation mix, largely due to Fulham’s recent form.
As mentioned, Newcastle could be in the relegation zone by the time that this match kicks off, and the Magpies have a tough run of fixtures ahead, facing Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Liverpool in three of their next four.
Bruce’s team also have a very difficult end to the campaign, taking on Arsenal, Leicester City and Manchester City in three straight matches at the start of May, and they will finish their season away to Fulham on May 23, which could prove to be decisive in terms of staying in the division.
Newcastle have the third-worst away record in the league this season with just 12 points from 14 matches, while they played out a goalless draw with Brighton in the corresponding game at the Amex last term.
Brighton possible XI: Sanchez, Veltman, White, Dunk, Burn, Gross, Lallana, Bissouma, Trossard, Welbeck, Maupay.
Newcastle possible XI: Dubravka, Krafth, Lascelles, Clark, Dummett, Willock, Shelvey, Hayden, Fraser, Gayle, Joelinton.