In form fifth place Brighton host bottom club Wolves…
The Albion have taken six points from their past two matches against clubs who will expect to finish in the top six this season. Next up? Brighton host bottom of the table, winless Wolves at the Amex. You know what is coming.
Spurs at home? Easy. Sod it, the Albion can even afford to give them a two-goal head start and still win.
Newcastle away? No problem. Defend resolutely and be more deadly up the other end than Mohammed Bin Salman’s hit squad when sent to meet a journalist who had the neve to criticise the crown prince.
Wolves at home? Opponents yet to taste victory in the Premier League? Worst defensive record in the division? Manager under mounting pressure? Oh, not sure about that one.
This possibly does Wolves a disservice. They were a 95th minute winner from John Stones – and a controversial one at that – from taking a point off Manchester City at Molineux last weekend.
A slow start to the campaign is not uncommon when a manager is in his second season at a club, as Gary O’Neil is. And O’Neil remains a quality manager, despite what some vocal Wolves fans might think.
You do not keep Plucky Little Bournemouth in the Premier League and then lead Wolverhampton Wanderers to safety having only been appointed a couple of days before the season started and with no real backing in the transfer market if you are shit.
So there are two ways that much improved performance and oh-so-near result against City can be taken. Either a one-off and Wolves are actually doomed to relegation. Or O’Neil and his Old Gold are starting to turn a corner.
Brighton’s well-known ability to beat the good teams and lose to those near the bottom will mean Seagulls supporters approaching the visit of Wolves with a certain amount of trepidation. That will be justified if the Old Gold end up building on what they did against City.
This long-standing quirk of the Albion’s which has gone on for as long as most of us can remember was put to Fabian Hurzeler in his press conference before Brighton hosted Ipswich Town at the Amex.
You know, that 0-0 home draw with the newly promoted Tractor Boys which followed seven points from three tough opening matches against Everton, Manchester United and Arsenal.
Hurzeler said of the Albion winning unexpected games and disappointing in matches they shouldn’t: “I was not here! But we try to bring a new environment, another culture.”
“Every coach thinks differently. Of course I know this topic but I won’t make it big in the locker room or in meetings because it is a new season. It is a new style of play, a new situation.”
Points dropped at home against Ipswich and Nottingham Forest were recovered by those unexpected successes over Spurs and Newcaste.
But it is not sustainable to think a draw with Wolves is okay because Brighton will go onto beat Liverpool at Anfield, for example (looking forward to revisiting this one in eight days time).
What can Brighton do to ensure they defeat Wolves? Being clinical would be a good start. In the Ipswich game, enough chances were created to win four football matches. None though were taken.
Brighton will therefore be hoping that Danny Welbeck is fit enough to start. Hurzeler did not sound confident, revealing the back injury which saw him stretchered off at St James’ Park last week was a direct hit to a nerve and left Dat Guy unable to feel his legs.
Welbeck was still in pain on Wednesday. He was due to train on Thursday and the Albion would make a decision from there.
Dat Guy has five goals in eight games so far. Take those away and Brighton would be just above the relegation zone rather than fifth in the standings.
How the Seagulls cope without their current talisman is going to be the central question in whether Brighton get a result.
The answer might be Evan Ferguson. Without a goal in 11 months, Hurzeler declared himself pleased with the job Ferguson did when handed his first start of the season in a front two alongside Welbeck against Newcastle.
If Ferguson were to be the match winner, it would be an early success for new ‘striker consultant’ Bobby Zamora.
Added to Hurzeler’s coaching team this week and given a ridiculous title making it sound like he’s working from an office at Canary Wharf rather than a football pitch in Lancing, nobody stands a better chance of unlocking goals from Ferguson than Zamora.
There is of course one last aspect of Brighton versus Wolves to consider – the Albion’s ridiculous record against the Old Gold.
It now reads 44 matches, 19 wins, 16 draws and just nine defeats. This despite Brighton only finishing above Wolves in the football pyramid in 16 of the 123 seasons both clubs have existed.
We know it is maddening to Wolves supporters thanks to the now-iconic photo at the top of this post of an Old Gold fan losing his mind in a hospitality box when Brighton won 4-1 at Molineux last season.
Fingers crossed for another meltdown this weekend. If not and the Albion do their usual trick, we will just go and win at Anfield next week. Right?
