One of two fixtures both sets of fans look for in the fixture calendar when it is first released, takes place in South London this weekend as Brighton come to town.
To get the latest thoughts from a Seagulls perspective, we had a chat to our pals at We Are Brighton on their season so far, summer transfer window, thoughts ahead of the game, and much more…
TEB – How would you rate last season?
WAB – 7/10; Youngest Permanent Manager in Premier League History and a very young squad achieved their second highest finish in Brighton history.
All it needed was a win or two against Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester at the Amex rather than drawing those games and the Albion would have qualified for Europe outright, rather than forlornly relying on Palace getting kicked out of Europe completely for not reading their emails.
TEB – Was the summer transfer window a success? Are there any areas which need improvement in January?
WAB – The thing with Brighton is you can never judge a transfer window until two or three years down the line. None of the players signed have made a major impact so far… but if Stefanos Tzimas and Charalampos Kostoulas become world class talents as the club expect, it will look amazing in 2027.
I still think Brighton are short of a striker. One injury to Danny Welbeck and it’s either over to the Greek teenagers ahead of time or Georginio Rutter playing as a nine, which he cannot really do.
The Albion hate doing business in January, so I doubt it will be addressed and we therefore head on hoping for the best.
TEB – Thoughts on this season so far?
WAB – Brighton have been consistently inconsistent. Beat the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea; draw with Fulham and Wolves.
Decision makers at the club have talked about getting back into the Europa League, but I don’t think that will happen based on what we’ve seen so far.
TEB – Is there a Brighton player Palace should be wary of in this fixture?
WAB – Yankubu Minteh has been magnificent this season and we all know wingers tend to do outrageous things in this fixture; be it Wilfried Zaha in the play-off semi final or Anthony Knockaert bending one in from 30 yards at Selhurst.
There seems little chance of Brighton keeping a clean sheet, so Minteh causing issues going forward seems very important if the Albion are to get a result.
TEB – How do you feel Palace will fare this campaign?
WAB – Palace will start well and I imagine fall away. I don’t think you can appreciate the toll Europe takes on a club not used to it until it happens.
Obviously, the Conference League is not quite the same as playing Ajax, AEK Athens and Marseille in the Europa League.
But it’s really tough going Thursday and Sunday and reality only dawns in November. If I was Oliver Glasner, I’d actually prioritise Europe over the Premier League because you won’t go down. Winning another trophy and getting Europa League because of it would be amazing.
TEB – Ambitions for Brighton this season?
WAB – Well, the board think European qualification. I’d take top ten. Brighton have sold a lot of quality players and replaced them with young prospects.
That either goes the way of Southampton or you need a couple of seasons for a successful rebuild. Top ten now would be a sign of a solid foundation.
TEB – If you could sign one current Palace player who would it be and why?
WAB – Marc Guehi. I spent last summer in Germany at the Euros and thought he was a star. Lewis Dunk is at the end of his career, so who better to replace him?
Sadly, I think Guehi will have more enticing offers going into the next couple of transfer windows.
TEB – Following Palace’s FA Cup win, is there a sense of urgency for Brighton to achieve similar success? Or is the focus still on buying low to sell high?
WAB – I think a lot of fans are now more desperate to see Brighton win a trophy. But I also think to a slightly lesser extent that would be the case if it was Fulham or Bournemouth doing it. It is just pretty inspirational to see one of us lesser guys delivering lifelong memories at Wembley and a blow to the egos of the big six.
At board level, I can’t imagine Brighton care. Tony Bloom made billions gambling and you don’t do that if you let emotion bother you. He will think his approach is on its way to delivering success.
TEB – Expectations for the game, including final score?
WAB – This used to be an absolute banker for a 1-1 draw until Palace went and ruined it by doing the double last season. I’m going for a 1-1 draw.
