Fulham vs Brighton Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Two of the upwardly mobile and more entertaining teams from the Premier League’s so-called ‘mid-table’, albeit that is not where Brighton find themselves at the moment, meet in a potentially enjoyable encounter at Craven Cottage this week.
Kick-off date/time: Thursday 5th December, 2024: UK – 7:30pm / US ET – 2:30pm / US PT – 11:30am
How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – Not televised
How to watch online: UK – Amazon Prime / US – Peacock
Fulham Preview: Searching for consistency
Marco Silva’s Fulham come into this one on the back of a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in a London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the weekend. Brennan Johnson opened the scoring in the first-half of that game before the Cottagers equalised mid-way through the second-half via club captain Tom Cairney.
The Cottagers had returned from the November international break with a 4-1 loss at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, highlighting a wild inconsistency. Performances have remained strong throughout the season but results have fluctuated as they begin the 14th match day of the campaign sitting firmly in the middle-of-the-table.
Brighton Preview: Soaring Seagulls
With 31-year-old Fabian Hurzeler at the helm, the well run operation at Brighton and Hove Albion has got off to another brilliant start in this Premier League campaign as they begin the midweek round of fixtures sitting in an excellent position to challenge for a top five finish and potential UEFA Champions League qualification.
Their excellent results against strong sides were undermined again, though, at the weekend as they were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom-of-the-table south coast rivals Southampton in a game in which Kaoru Mitoma had given Brighton the lead before a controversial possible Saints winner was chalked off by VAR late on.
Fulham Team News: Changes unlikely
Fulham are coming off a good draw at Tottenham as they responded well to their heavy loss to Wolves the previous week. Marco Silva is unlikely to make too many change despite the quick turnaround in matches but there may be a couple of rotations.
After coming off the bench and scoring, Cairney was shown a straight red card so he now faces a spell on the sidelines. Lukic is also suspended so Andreas Pereira will likely come back into a central midfield role.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, Diop, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Pereira; Iwobi, Smith Rowe, Nelson; Muniz
Unavailable: Andersen (Injured), Cuenca (Injured), Reed (Injured), Cairney (Suspended), Lukic (Suspended)
Questionable: Sessegnon (Injured)
Brighton Team News: Baleba suspension
Carlos Baleba, after a quiet first season, has become a key man for Brighton this season and he returns after missing the Southampton match on Friday due to suspension.
The Seagulls are also dealing with a few key injury issues as Joel Veltman remains sidelined, whilst players like Adam Webster and Jack Hinshelwood are also key doubts.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Lamptey, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Baleba, Ayari; Rutter, Joao Pedro, Mitoma; Welbeck
Unavailable: March (Fitness), Veltman (Injured), Milner (Injured)
Questionable: Webster (Injured), Kadioglu (Injured), Hinshelwood (Injured), Gruda (Illness)
Fulham vs Brighton Prediction
Fulham will expect to set out their stall early on and they have got into the habit of fast starts at Craven Cottage so that will be the expectation once again. Brighton are wedded to playing out from the back and are well controlled but Hurzeler’s side have found a way of playing quite well on the break, too, with efficient and slick moves forward. It could mean the two sides cancel each other out but they both play with an attacking freedom that means both teams scoring remains a good bet.
Fulham vs Brighton Tip: Both teams to score
