Big opportunity if Brighton can do it on a cold day in Stoke

Can Brighton do it on a cold day in Stoke? Or perhaps the better question is, do Brighton want to do it on a cold day in Stoke?

Roberto De Zerbi and his players did manage to do it on a cold night in Stoke last season, a 1-0 victory via an Evan Ferguson goal in the FA Cup fifth round as part of a memorable run to Wembley and the final four.

Just penalties prevented the Albion making history and advancing beyond Manchester United into what would have been only their second ever FA Cup final appearance.

In his public utterances before heading back to the Bet365 Stadium, De Zerbi has been pretty clear that he wants to go one better this time.

“It’s a very important target for us, especially when we think of other years,” De Zerbi said in his pre-game press conference.

“We lost the semi final in a bad way and we still remember that game. This is an important game and I want us to give our best, and that we play seriously. To reach the semi final was exciting and we want to go forward again.”

This should come as no surprise. De Zerbi is a born winner who wants to write his name into the record books wherever he goes.

Leading Brighton to sixth place in the Premier League has already done that. Taking Brighton into the last 16 of the Europa League more so.

But becoming the first ever Albion manager to win a major piece of silverware with the club (if you ignore the 1910 Charity Shield, of course) would be the biggest achievement of the lot.

Regular readers of WAB will know that we fully support De Zerbi’s position on taking cup competitions seriously. Seeing Lewis Dunk lift a trophy at Wembley would trump anything else, save winning the Premier League or possibly the Europa League. Hello, Dublin, in May?

We frequently admonished Glow Up Graham Potter for the disdain with which he treated knockout matches, such as when sending out a team with an average age of 12 in League Cup defeat to Aston Villa and losing at home against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup.

But it is always important to acknowledge the other side of the argument. There are some Brighton fans who would rather De Zerbi named an XI packed with Under 21s at Stoke, not caring if the Albion were to be eliminated from the FA Cup.

This too is understandable in a season where injuries are piling up like no other. The last thing Brighton need is Lewis Dunk snapping a hamstring, Pervis Estupinan breaking down again or Joao Pedro limping off against the Potters.

The perfect scenario? De Zerbi names a strong starting line up good enough to win the game, whilst still paying attention to those who have had a lot of minutes in recent weeks, such as Pedro.

Brighton get a couple of goals to the good early on, victory is wrapped up before the hour mark (or preferably half time) and De Zerbi can then throw on some of the development squad. Can Josh Duffus or Mark O’Mahony do it on a cold day in Stoke?

It was a plan which the Albion carried out to perfection in their 4-1 win away at Middlesbrough in the third round of the competition last season.

Repeating it will be easier said than done, of course. Stoke are in the midst of a new manager bounce, having appointed highly rated Plymouth Argyle boss Steven Schumacher to replace Alex Neill a week before Christmas.

Schumacher led the Pilgrims to total domination of League One last season, accumulating over 100 points in a manner reminiscent of Brighton under Gus Poyet He Who Must Not Be Named in the 2010-11 campaign.

Swapping Home Park for the Bet365 Stadium is a brave move, with even Schumacher himself admitting that Stoke has been a managerial graveyard since the club’s relegation from the Premier League in 2018.

Nathan Jones thought he was upgrading from Luton Town to the Potters, only to be sacked. Michael O’Neill thought he was upgrading from the Northern Ireland job to the Potters, only to be sacked. Neill though he was upgrading from Sunderland to the Potters, only to be sacked.

Will Schumacher be any different? The early signs are promising. He is unbeaten in four games so far, securing impressive draws with Millwall, Watford and Ipswich Town and beating Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham City.

Stoke currently sit 19th in the table. In the totally madcap world that is the Championship, that leaves them just 11 points off a playoff place.

Should Schumacher want to try and build momentum, he may keep changes to a minimal. Brighton saw that themselves in the midst of a Championship relegation battle, when Chris Hughton named a a full strength side in his early days in charge for a 3-2 FA Cup win over Brentford in 2015. If O’Grady scores, we’re on the pitch…

Playing a strong Stoke XI away from home will present a challenge for the Albion. Make no mistake, this is a potential banana skin of a game – which is why De Zerbi will not treat it lightly.

He remembers the embarrassment of League Cup elimination to Charlton Athletic last season – even when he named a full strength side – as much as he recalls his first ever visit to Wembley.

Jakub Moder has been confirmed as starting against Stoke. Players like Mahmoud Dahoud, Carlos Baleba and Adam Lallana should get opportunities. Ferguson has sat on the bench in recent weeks and Dunk has not played for nine days due to suspension.

If Adam Webster and Pervis Estupinan have recovered sufficiently from their exertions on returning from injury against West Ham on Tuesday night, this represents a good chance to get further minutes under their belts too.

Perhaps most importantly, Brighton have 16 days off after facing the Potters on account of next weekend being the one they sit out as part of the Premier League winter break.

With no precious points up for grabs for over two weeks, De Zerbi need not consider rest and rotation quite so much as he might if Wolves at home was next Saturday rather than on Monday 22nd.

Brighton have a big opportunity to do something special in the FA Cup this season. On their day, the Albion can give a game to any side in England.

First though, they need to do it on a cold day in Stoke.