This fixture was a painful experience last time out under the guidance of Roy Hodgson, but this will be the first experience of the fixture for Oliver Glasner and he knows what the fans want.
MATCH INFORMATION
| 15 December 2024 – 2pm |
| Amex Stadium, Village Way, Brighton BN1 9BL |
PREVIOUS MEETING
| 03/02/2024 – Let’s face it, the last time this fixture was played out was far from pretty as the hosts took a very early lead through Pascal Gross which Palace never recovered from. Jack Hinselwood and Facundo Buonanotte completed the first half scoring before Jean-Philippe Mateta grabbed what turned out to be a consolation as Joao Pedro netted late on to end the misery. More than the score, this game will be remembered for Roy Hodgson throwing on an unfit Michael Olise at half time in complete desperation only for his to last just six minutes. |
| WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Pascal Gross (8.8) |
MATCH OFFICIALS
| Referee | Michael Oliver |
| Assistant | Stuart Burt |
| Assistant | James Mainwaring |
| Fourth Official | Simon Hooper |
| VAR | John Brooks |
| Assistant VAR | Derek Eaton |
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – Matheus France, Adam Wharton, and Rob Holding all remain unavailable.
BRIGHTON – Ferdi Kadioglu, Jack Hinshelwood, Adam Webster, James Milner, and Solly March all mis out while Joel Veltman will be assessed.
DISCIPLINARY RECORD
This is the section of our match preview that highlights those that have not been the best of friends with match officials as the season goes on. Of course, they all begin with a clean slate, but we will start to see those that will be heading for a ban or two as the campaign progresses.
| RED CARDS – Daichi Kamada (1), Carlos Baleba (1) |
| YELLOW CARDS (over 3.5) – Will Hughes (6), Daniel Munoz (4), Jefferson Lerma (4), Jan Paul van Hecke (4) |
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
| 03/02/2024 | Brighton 4-1 Palace |
| 21/12/2023 | Palace 1-1 Brighton |
| 15/03/2023 | Brighton 1-0 Palace |
| 11/02/2023 | Palace 1-1 Brighton |
| 14/01/2022 | Brighton 1-1 Palace |
Last FIVE results for Palace:
| 07/12/2024 | Palace 2-2 Manchester City |
| 03/12/2024 | Ipswich 0-1 Palace |
| 30/11/2024 | Palace 1-1 Newcastle |
| 23/11/2024 | Villa 2-2 Palace |
| 09/11/2024 | Palace 0-2 Fulham |
Last FIVE results for Brighton;
| 08/12/2024 | Leicester 2-2 Brighton |
| 05/12/2024 | Fulham 3-1 Brighton |
| 29/11/2024 | Brighton 1-1 Southampton |
| 23/11/2024 | Bournemouth 1-2 Brighton |
| 09/11/2024 | Brighton 2-1 Manchester City |
LEAGUE POSITION
Heading into the fixture, Palace are 17th in the Premier League with 13 points from 15 games played, while Brighton have 24 points from the same amount of games.
RECORD AGAINST BRIGHTON
| Played | 111 |
| Won | 38 |
| Drawn | 31 |
| Lost | 42 |
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
This is the section of our match preview where we list two players from each side that are top of the ratings by our friends over at Who Scored. Obviously, there are no ratings to share at the moment but that will soon change!
| Joao Pedro | 7.21 |
| Ebere Eze | 6.97 |
| Daniel Munoz | 6.95 |
| Danny Welbeck | 6.94 |
ONE TO WATCH
| DANNY WELBECK |
| FORMER CLUBS – Fletcher Moss Rangers, Manchester United, Preston North End (loan), Sunderland (loan), Arsenal, Watford |
| The 34 year old striker is having quite come season having scored 6 goals already before an injury slowed down his progress, but if fit for this game, he will be a threat with his current eye for goal. |
KEY CLASH
| JEANPHILIPPE MATETA v JAN PAUL VAN HECKE |
| The French striker has previous in this fixture and will know as much as anyone else what this one means. Who can forget that cheeky touch to score at the Amex during Covid? He will be up against a Dutchman who has quietly gone under the radar but has made himself a regular fixture in the hosts line-up. |
PRE-MATCH STATS
This is the section of our match preview where we keep a tally on the statistics for Palace players as the campaign continues and how they compare to other Premier League players.
| Goals | Jean-Philippe MATETA 4 (27th) |
| Assists | Ebere EZE, Will HUGHES 2 (38th) |
| Passes | Marc GUEHI 793 (19th) |
| Tackles | Daniel MUNOZ 53 (1st) |
| Touches | Marc GUEHI 996 (22nd) |
| Shots | Ebere EZE 42 (7th) |
| Fouls | Daniel MUNOZ 22 (17th) |
| Dispossessed | Ebere EZE, Ismaila SARR 18 (34th) |
| Saves | Dean HENDERSON 46 (6th) |
| Clearances | Marc GUEHI 76 (7th) |
| Big Chances Missed | Jean-Philippe MATETA 8 (7th) |
TEB PREDICTION
The Eagles have been building some good form in recent weeks and head into this fixture unbeaten in four games. Perhaps this fixture comes at a decent time with Oliver Glasner slowly but surely seeing his side find their feet again and playing to their strengths. The opposition have only one defeat in five games and are flying high, but there are players in this Palace side that will remember the last visit and will want to help that memory fade. The Eagles may just do enough to take this one, as bold as that may seem.
| PREDICTED SCORE: 2-1 Palace |
