Beat Brentford and make getting to the Amex worthwhile
What is it that makes fate decide to make Brighton against Brentford at the Amex a nightmare to get to?
Two seasons ago, the television Gods moved it to an 8pm kick off on Boxing Day. With no public transport, the Albion winless in 12 games under Glow Up Graham Potter and people having better things to do than find alternative ways of traipsing to Falmer on December 26th, barely 15,000 people turned up.
Fast forward to the current campaign and the problem this time is a train strike. No Southern trains are running which means nothing along the south coast and no service to Falmer.
The Albion to their credit have scrambled together alternatives – and probably at significant cost given the hiring of vehicles and drivers. Notably, extra park and ride sites and shuttle buses have been found to ferry people to and from the Amex.
But there remains the possibility that large numbers of Seagulls supporters will question whether they can be bothered to rely on buses on a cold, December night three weeks out from Christmas – especially with the game live on Amazon Prime.
Swathes of empty seats could therefore greet Roberto De Zerbi in his first home match since being named Best European Coach 2023 at the Golden Boy Awards.
This potential lack of crowd does at least present the opportunity to laugh at another wild Amex attendance announcement, although it seems doubtful anything will ever beat the 30,141 from that fateful Boxing Day night against the Bees.
De Zerbi was not the only Albion winner at the Golden Boy Awards. Tony Bloom took home Best President 2023. You suspect he would swap that title for a Brighton victory over Brentford, given who owns the Bees.
Almost everyone knows about the Bloom versus Matt Benham rivalry by now. Benham worked for Bloom, then struck out on his own.
The two had an almighty falling out, to the point Bloom refuses to go in the boardroom when the Albion play Brentford away almost 20 years later.
Enemies they may be, but the similarities between Bloom and Benham are there for all to see. Both have taken their respective clubs from League One to the Premier League.
Both have built shiny new stadiums. And both use data and analytics to continually embarrass plenty of bigger and richer clubs.
But back to proceedings at the Amex. The travel nightmare and Bloom’s dislike of Benham give Brighton two very good reasons to beat Brentford.
Not that either will be front and centre of Albion minds, unless Bloom has offered a serious monetary bonus for victory over the Bees once again.
Instead, Brighton kind of need to win for their own good. One victory in eight Premier League matches is not causing too much concern as yet, but if back-to-back home games against Brentford and Burnley do not yield a half-decent points return, that might change.
One mitigating factor of course is the ridiculous lengthy Albion absentee list. Remarkably, Brighton seemed to get through the 3-2 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday without picking up any further injuries.
Roberto De Zerbi meanwhile confirmed in his pre-game press conference that Kaoru Mitoma would be fit enough to start, having been rested to the bench at Stamford Bridge.
Pascal Gross and Joao Pedro were also amongst the substitutes at the weekend. De Zerbi would not be one to admit it, but the statement he appeared to be making by leaving his big guns out was that Brentford and Burnley are more important, winnable fixtures.
All in all, a big night lies in store at the Amex. For Brighton. For De Zerbi. For Bloom. And for anyone who still hasn’t worked out how to get to Falmer without a train.
