On the 22nd of January, Monday, as part of the 21st round of the Premier League, Brighton will host Wolverhampton on their home turf. The Wolves will strive for a fourth consecutive win to climb into the top ten of the overall ranking, while the Seagulls have had a fortnight's break and currently sit eighth in the league table.
Brighton: Steele; Hinshelwood, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Gross, Gilmour, Milner; Buonanotte; Welbeck, Pedro.
Wolverhampton: Sa; Kilman, Dawson, Bueno; Semedo, Lemina, Doyle, Doherty; Sarabia, Neto; Cunha.
Brighton, a potential contender for the European spot at the start of the season, currently sits only in the 8th place in the Premier League table. To catch up with the leaders, the Seagulls need to improve significantly as their current form is not highly optimistic: The hosts have won only 2 of their last 7 championship matches, drawn three times, and lost twice. In December, Roberto De Zerbi's men clinched a convincing victory over Tottenham (2:0), then drew with West Ham (0:0) and beat Stoke City in the 1/32 final of the FA Cup (2:4) thanks to João Pedro's second-half goals.
The white-blue team had a full fortnight to recuperate before the second half of the campaign and will now try to improve their home record: in 10 matches at the Amex, the hosts acquired just 19 points, scored 22 goals, and conceded 14. After topping their Europa League group, Brighton advanced directly to the 1/8 finals of the tournament and can focus on domestic competition until March.
Wolverhampton currently sits in 11th place in the Premier League table, not worrying about retaining their top-flight status. The Oranges have somewhat revived after a dismal start: they've lost only one of their last six league matches, won four times, and drew once. In the last three rounds, the Wolves beat Chelsea (2:1), Brentford (1:4), and Everton (3:0), and this week they defeated the Bees in the 1/32 final of the FA Cup (3:2 after extra time).
The last time Wolverhampton won four consecutive matches in the top division was in 1972, so achieving this result would be an impressive success for O'Neill's men. At the same time, the visitors have only triumphed in one of their last six away matches across all competitions, and in the Premier League, they average only one point per match on foreign soil this season.
De Zerbi's men have won all their previous encounters with the Wolves with a total score of 13:3; inversely, Gary O'Neil has lost his last three Premier League matches against Brighton.
Brighton has consistently beaten Wolverhampton in recent years, and the upcoming duel is unlikely to be an exception. The Oranges played a gruelling 120 minutes in the Cup against Brentford last week, while the Seagulls have had a fortnight to recuperate and are in much better physical condition. My prediction is a victory for the home side.
Brighton averages two goals per game this season and can entertain its supporters with at least two goals against the Wolves, crippled by player losses.
Brighton serves an average of five corners per match while Wolverhampton averages 4.5. A bet on the total number of corners exceeding 8.5 is worth considering.
Both teams earn 2.5 yellow cards per match in this campaign, so you can safely bet on the total warnings exceeding 4.5.
My bet is for a final score of 2:1 in Brighton's favour.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Liverpool | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 35 | 58:23 | 57 | |
2 | Arsenal | 25 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 29 | 51:22 | 53 | |
3 | Nottingham | 25 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 41:29 | 47 | |
4 | Manchester City | 25 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 52:35 | 44 | |
5 | Bournemouth | 25 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 44:29 | 43 | |
6 | Chelsea | 25 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 47:34 | 43 | |
7 | Newcastle | 25 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 42:33 | 41 | |
8 | Fulham | 25 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 38:33 | 39 | |
9 | Aston Villa | 25 | 10 | 8 | 7 | -3 | 35:38 | 38 | |
10 | Brighton | 25 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 38:38 | 37 | |
11 | Brentford | 25 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 43:42 | 34 | |
12 | Crystal Palace | 25 | 7 | 9 | 9 | -3 | 29:32 | 30 | |
13 | Everton | 25 | 7 | 9 | 9 | -4 | 27:31 | 30 | |
14 | Manchester Utd | 24 | 8 | 5 | 11 | -6 | 28:34 | 29 | |
15 | Tottenham | 24 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 48:37 | 27 | |
16 | West Ham | 25 | 7 | 6 | 12 | -18 | 29:47 | 27 | |
17 | Wolves | 24 | 5 | 4 | 15 | -18 | 34:52 | 19 | |
18 | Ipswich | 25 | 3 | 8 | 14 | -27 | 23:50 | 17 | |
19 | Leicester | 25 | 4 | 5 | 16 | -30 | 25:55 | 17 | |
20 | Southampton | 25 | 2 | 3 | 20 | -38 | 19:57 | 9 | |
1 | Arsenal | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 27:10 | 28 | |
2 | Liverpool | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 24:9 | 26 | |
3 | Manchester City | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 28:15 | 26 | |
4 | Nottingham | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 22:10 | 24 | |
5 | Aston Villa | 13 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 21:15 | 24 | |
6 | Brentford | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 29:25 | 23 | |
7 | Chelsea | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 22:15 | 22 | |
8 | Bournemouth | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 17:9 | 21 | |
9 | Newcastle | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 20:14 | 20 | |
10 | Fulham | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 20:19 | 20 | |
11 | Brighton | 12 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 17:14 | 18 | |
12 | Everton | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 18:15 | 17 | |
13 | Manchester Utd | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 17:22 | 16 | |
14 | Tottenham | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 27:23 | 14 | |
15 | West Ham | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 16:27 | 14 | |
16 | Crystal Palace | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 12:21 | 11 | |
17 | Wolves | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 16:24 | 10 | |
18 | Leicester | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 11:23 | 9 | |
19 | Ipswich | 13 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 9:26 | 7 | |
20 | Southampton | 12 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 9:33 | 4 | |
1 | Liverpool | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 34:14 | 31 | |
2 | Arsenal | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 24:12 | 25 | |
3 | Nottingham | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 19:19 | 23 | |
4 | Bournemouth | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 27:20 | 22 | |
5 | Chelsea | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 25:19 | 21 | |
6 | Newcastle | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 22:19 | 21 | |
7 | Fulham | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 18:14 | 19 | |
8 | Brighton | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 21:24 | 19 | |
9 | Crystal Palace | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 17:11 | 19 | |
10 | Manchester City | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 24:20 | 18 | |
11 | Aston Villa | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 14:23 | 14 | |
12 | Everton | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 9:16 | 13 | |
13 | Manchester Utd | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 11:12 | 13 | |
14 | Tottenham | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 21:14 | 13 | |
15 | West Ham | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 13:20 | 13 | |
16 | Brentford | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 14:17 | 11 | |
17 | Ipswich | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 14:24 | 10 | |
18 | Wolves | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 18:28 | 9 | |
19 | Leicester | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 14:32 | 8 | |
20 | Southampton | 13 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 10:24 | 5 |
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