It has taken until February to get our first match up of the season with Brighton and the first instalment takes place at Selhurst Park this weekend, potentially without Wilfried Zaha.
TIME/ DATE/ VENUE
- 3pm
- 11th February 2023
- Selhurst Park, Holmesdale Road, London SE25 6PU
PREVIOUS MEETING
The Last visit to South London for Brighton was back in September 2021 when a Wilfried Zaha penalty gave Palace the lead right on half time. It looked like the Eagles were going to take all three points but Neal Maupay grabbed an equaliser in injury time to make sure the points were shared.
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Joel Veltman (8.0)
OFFICIALS
- Referee: Michael Oliver
- Assistants: Stuart Burt, Simon Bennett
- Fourth official: Tim Robinson
- VAR: John Brooks
- Assistant VAR: Lee Betts.
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – Joel Ward, and Nathan Ferguson could both miss out while Joachim Anderson remains a doubt. Wilfried Zaha is listed officially as being ruled out, the lack of images from the training ground this week suggest that we could see him in some capacity. James McArthur could make his long awaited return with a place on the bench.
BRIGHTON – Jakub Moder and Levi Colwill are both out through injury. Evan Ferguson is a doubt.
DISCIPLINARY THIS SEASON
RED CARDS – Tyrick Mitchell (1), James Tomkins (1)
YELLOW CARDS (5+) – Cheick Doucoure (7), Marc Guehi (7), Moises Caicedo (6), Alexis MacAllister (5), Jeffrey Schlupp (5)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 14/01/22 Brighton 1-1 Palace
- 27/09/21 Palace 1-1 Brighton
- 22/02/21 Brighton 1-2 Palace
- 18/10/20 Palace 1-1 Brighton
- 29/02/20 Brighton 0-1 Palace
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 04/02/23 United 2-1 Palace
- 21/01/23 Palace 0-0 Newcastle
- 18/01/23 Palace 1-1 United
- 15/01/23 Chelsea 1-0 Palace
- 07/01/23 Palace 1-2 Southampton
Last FIVE results for Brighton;
- 04/02/23 Brighton 1-0 Bournemouth
- 29/01/23 Brighton 2-1 Liverpool
- 21/01/23 Leicester 2-2 Brighton
- 14/01/23 Brighton 3-0 Liverpool
- 07/01/23 Middlesbrough 1-5 Brighton
LEAGUE POSITION
Heading into the fixture, Palace are 12th in the Premier League with 24 points from 21 games played while Brighton are 6th with 33 points from 20 games played.
RECORD AGAINST BRIGHTON
- Played 107
- Won 38
- Drawn 29
- Lost 40
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Solly March 7.14
- Alexis MacAllister 7.01
- Joachim Andersen 6.87
- Wilfried Zaha 6.87
ONE TO WATCH
ALEXIS MACALLISTER
FORMER CLUBS – Social Parque, Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors (loan)
The Brighton midfielder has returned from the World Cup after playing his part in Argentina lifting the famous old trophy. He plays a key part in the Seagulls midfield and will be key to any success the club has this season.
KEY CLASH
NATHANIEL CLYNE v KAORU MITOMA
The Japanese winger caught the eye at the World Cup and he has continued his fine form since his return to Brighton, which will make him a real challenge for the Palace full back.
PRE-MATCH FACTS
- Palace are unbeaten in the past 6 top-flight meetings, winning 2 and drawing 4
- However, Palace have won only 1 of their 7 top flight home fixtures against Brighton, drawing 4 and losing 2
- These sides have drawn 1-1 at Selhurst Park in each of the last 3 seasons
- The Eagles have scored in each of the past 9 top-flight encounters
- Palace are without a victory in 2023, drawing 2 and losing 4 of their 6 games
- Patrick Vieira’s side last won at home in October, when they beat Southampton
- The Eagles have failed to win any of their 12 matches this season against teams currently in the top half of the table, drawing 5 and losing 7
- Palace have lost 22 of their past 30 league games without Wilfried Zaha, winning 4 and drawing 4
- Brighton have won 5 away matches in the top flight this season – only Arsenal have fared better on the road, with 8 victories
- Roberto De Zerbi’s side have scored 15 goals since the Premier League resumed after the World Cup, second only to Manchester United’s total of 16
- Brighton have scored a league-low 16% of their goals from set-piece situations, with only 6 of their 38 top-flight strikes coming in that manner
- Kaoru Mitoma has been involved in 9 goals in his past 12 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven and assisting two
- Mitoma 5 league goals and needs 1 more to equal the record by a Japanese player in a single season, set by Shinji Kagawa in 2012-13 and matched by Shinji Okazaki in 2017-18
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Wilfried Zaha (6 – 18th in PL)
- ASSISTS – Michael Olise (4 – 13th in PL)
- PASSES – Marc Guehi (1169 – 13th in PL)
- TACKLES – Cheick Doucoure (53 – 6th in PL)
- TOUCHES – Marc Guehi (1409 – 19th in PL)
- SHOTS – Wilfried Zaha (41)
- FOULS – Jeffrey Schlupp (36 – 3rd in PL)
- DISPOSSESSED – Wilfried Zaha (70 – 1st in PL)
- SAVES – Vicente Guaita (66 – 6th in PL)
DID YOU KNOW?
Phil Stant and Russell Osman played for the Albion after being dismissed as managers of Lincoln City and Plymouth Argyle respectively.
PREDICTION
The in-form visitors will be looking to keep their run going but in turn Palace will be keen to retain their unbeaten run against their rivals from the South Coast. It is certainly going to be a tight feisty affair as ever but there is a feeling that the Eagles could well take something from this game and we are going bold with our prediction.
FINAL SCORE: 2-1 to Palace
BETTING ODDS
- Home – 11/4
- Draw – 12/5
- Away – 19/20
- Both teams to score – 20/23
RESOURCES
