Brighton vs. Brentford
Venue: Amex Stadium
Kick off: 9PM
Brighton & Hove Albion play host to Brentford on Boxing Day looking to end a 12-match winless streak in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Brentford have collected two victories from their last four outings, leaving the Bees level on points with their hosts in the Premier League standings.
Regardless of whether Brighton are still well above the bottom three, the criticism will continue to come for Graham Potter as long as his team fail to end their period without a victory.
Eight draws have been recorded from 11 top-flight fixtures, a run which includes stalemates against Arsenal and Liverpool, but frustration is understandable when failing to win several winnable games at the Amex Stadium.
Before the postponement of their trip to Manchester United last weekend, the Seagulls went down 1-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers without having a shot on target during the second half.
Despite the players that were missing for that fixture, that statistic summed up their campaign thus far, and all Potter can do is hope that their luck changes in the final third.
Nine of their 14 goals have come from Neal Maupay and Leandro Trossard, who will argue that they require more help from their teammates rather than being held responsible for contributing to the joint-third worst attacking record in the division.
An argument can be made for Brentford failing to build on their encouraging start to the season with a four-game losing streak occurring between October 16 and November 6.
However, head coach Thomas Frank will instead point to eight points coming from five games, their latest success coming against rivals Watford on December 10.
Sitting nine points ahead of the relegation zone, Frank can only be delighted with his team’s efforts so far, and he will be confident of taking advantage of Brighton’s lack of belief going forward.
While Wednesday’s EFL Cup defeat to Chelsea came as a huge disappointment, the game was Brentford’s first in 12 days, shaking off the cobwebs ahead of a further opportunity to extend the gap ahead of the bottom three.
Brighton possible XI: Sanchez, Lamptey, Veltman, Duffy, Cucurella, Gross, Bissouma, Moder, March, Maupay, Trossard.
Brentford possible XI: Fernandez, Pinnock, Jansson, Sorensen, Canos, Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt, Henry, Toney, Mbeumo.
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
