So without a win this calendar year, we head South to the Amex hoping we can jam our way to three points.
Ahead of the game, I caught up again with Scott from We Are Brighton…
Q: Hi Scott. Obviously we didn’t have the first match up that long ago, memories or feelings about that game?
WAB – Everything that Brighton fans have come to expect from matches against Palace and more. A dominant display which should have resulted in victory by three or four goals. Instead, the Albion contrived to miss enough opportunities to win five games of football. Robert Sanchez throws one in. And VAR drawing their offside lines from the wrong Palace defender to rule out that Pervis Estupinan goal in the first half was just ridiculous.
It never ceases to amaze me how you lot seem to get an entire season’s worth of luck in the 180 minutes you play Brighton. There must be some serious sacrifices going on around the Croydon area to the Pagan Goddess of Fortune around the time of our meetings.
TEB – Here’s hoping they shine on us one more time!
Q: Is the ambition for the end of the season still a European spot?
WAB: Very much so. It was this time last year that Graham Potter took us on a run of six defeats in a row followed by a 0-0 draw at home to Norwich City, kiboshing any hopes of Europe.
Fixture congestion will be a bit of a worry when April arrives. The Albion are already three games behind some clubs and are in FA Cup quarter final action on Sunday, meaning another Premier League match being rearranged. Semi-final day also coincides with Manchester City’s visit to the Amex, so you would expect one of the Albion or City to be at Wembley that day.
It will probably come down to how well the squad and Roberto De Zerbi cope with playing twice a week at the business end of the campaign.
Q: How do you / Brighton fans feel about the Palace rivalry? Is it a significant game for you? Does it irk you that it’s been so long since you’ve beaten us?
WAB: It is a significant game, but a lot of Brighton fans will be expecting the worst… myself included. The Albion have the better stadium, the better squad, the better manager, the better chairman… and yet Brighton cannot seem to win against Palace for love nor money.
Last time out at Selhurst summed it up nicely, although you could also point to that ludicrous 2020-21 season when you picked up four points from three shots on target over the two games. Makes you wonder quite how Brighton are going to fail to win the next one!
‘… Townsend with a little step over, sticks up the cross to the back post… Benteke hits it right footed…’
Q: On a different note, which Palace player would you most want in your team / squad?
WAB: My fiancé’s step-dad is a QPR season ticket holder so I have had an eye on Eberechi Eze for a while. He would be perfect in this young Brighton squad playing such thrilling attacking football under De Zerbi.
TEB – £250m and we can discuss.
Q. Is De Zerbi the best new manager in the league, or are Brighton the ultimate ‘conducive environment?’
WAB: The environment certainly helps, but what De Zerbi has done since arriving is phenomenal. Conventional wisdom was always that Brighton were holding Potter back by not signing a centre forward to put away the chances his team created.
But now Brighton fans look at what the team are doing under De Zerbi and wonder if it was actually Potter holding us back. De Zerbi has taken the exact same players and turned them into a team who cannot stop scoring (except for against Palace, obviously).
His style of play, sitting back, drawing teams out and then breaking in triangles is utterly fantastic to watch and it will not be long before he is managing one of the biggest clubs in the world. The Albion are very lucky to have him.
Q: So where is the game going to be won and lost?
WAB: Out wide. Solly March and Kaoru Mitoma are the most important players in De Zerbi’s 4-2-3-1. Palace did a job on Mitoma last time by double marking him but March still managed to find the back of the net. How much influence they have will directly impact the result… unless we got another VAR mistake big enough to have Howard Webb coming to Brighton to personally apologise to De Zerbi again.
Q: Finally, what’s your prediction?
Feast or famine. Brighton are either winning 5-0 or it is going to be 1-0 to Palace in another game where you cannot believe your luck and we end up tearing our hair out.
TEB – Cheers Scott, fingers crossed for the latter!
