Brighton could go top of the Premier League with win at Crystal Palace

Now we are not sure if you have heard as it has not been mentioned much anywhere, but Brighton & Hove Albion could go top of English football for the first time in their 120 year history with a win away at arch rivals Crystal Palace.

The Seagulls have won four games out of five in the Premier League this season, their best ever start to a top flight season.

Confidence is flowing through the club and the xG nightmare of 2020-21 has become a distant memory as a more streetwise, clinical Albion have seemingly learnt how to win games.

Palace meanwhile are a side in transition, their only three points so far coming against a ghastly Spurs outfit. The sit 15th in the table.

Are you even a Brighton supporter if you are not expecting the final score at Selhurst Park to be Crystal Palace 1-0 Brighton via a 94th minute Wilfried Zaha goal scored from the Eagles’ only shot on target all evening?

Crystal Palace this season
Palace faced an almighty rebuild in the summer, both on the pitch and in the dugout. The contract of Roy Hodgson was not renewed as the Eagles sought a younger, more attacking manager to introduce an overhaul from the defensive yet effective football which had kept them in the Premier League for four years under Hodgson. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

The man they chose for their job is Patrick Vieria, a seemingly strange option given that his managerial career so far at New York City and Nice has hardly torn up many trees.

Vieria though seems to have made a decent enough start, especially given that this is a new-look Palace side who will take time to gel.

As well as that Spurs win, they have drawn against Brentford, which with hindsight is not a bad result given the flying start that the Bees have made to life in the Premier League. A point from West Ham away is decent too.

They also earned plaudits for the way they approached the trip to Liverpool, even it ended in a 3-0 defeat at Anfield. Two of the Reds’ goals came in the final 12 minutes, which gave the score line a bit of a harsh look to it.

Palace’s new style of play should make for an intriguing encounter against the Albion. For the first time since Brighton joined the Eagles in the top flight, both sides will want to attack.

That should at least ensure there is no repeat of last season, when Palace took four points out of six despite having only three shots on goal in 180 minutes of football. Peak Brighton & Hove Albion.

Team news
Brighton will be sweating on the fitness of Yves Bissouma, who picked up a knee injury in the 2-1 win over Leicester City last time.

Bissouma is so important to the Albion that replacing him looks on nigh-on impossible. When he finally departed the action against the Foxes, it became even more like the Alamo as Leicester swarmed all over Brighton.

90 minutes without Bissouma is therefore a scary thought – especially if Graham Potter selects Enock Mwepu as his replacement.

Mwepu gave the ball away with frightening regularity once he was introduced. He looks like he needs time to adapt to the frantic pace of Premier League football and so pitching him into a game as intense as Palace will be would be a huge risk on the part of Potter.

Jakub Moder or Pascal Gross would be better options with Gross available again after self isolation. He would do a very different job to the dynamic Bissouma, but he would still offer control and it could be that his set piece delivery tips the game in the Albion’s favour.

Tariq Lamptey got through 45 minutes against Swansea City in the Carabao Cup but he will surely be on the bench at best as Brighton ease him back in. A rusty right wing back – even one as good as Lamptey – against Wilfried Zaha would represent another risk.

As for Palace, they have no fresh injury concerns. Jeffrey Schlupp is available again and Odsonne Edouard awaits his first start.

It would be grimly predictable for it to come – and for him to score – against the Albion, having spent much of the summer reading about how he would sign for Brighton from Celtic.

Key battles
If Brighton were ever interested in Edouard, then the likelihood is that the deal went nowhere because of his rumoured wage demands of £80,000 a week.

He will be out to prove that the Albion should have been willing to pay that, which will mean keeping him quiet is an important task for Joel Veltman, Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy.

Then we come to Zaha. Nobody needs reminding of his ridiculous record against the Albion which reads seven goals. He is always fired up for these games and the key to Brighton going top of the table will lie in keeping him quiet – and hopefully, sparking a temper tantrum too.

Recent form
The stark contrast in form between the two sides is one of the major reasons why it would not be a surprise to see Palace win.

How many times have we seen Brighton come into a game in similar circumstances, only to end up losing? There is a reason why the phrase Typical Brighton exists.

• 22/09/21: Brighton 2-0 Swansea City
• 19/09/21: Brighton 2-1 Leicester City
• 11/09/21: Brentford 0-1 Brighton
• 28/08/21: Brighton 0-2 Everton
• 24/08/21: Cardiff City 0-2 Brighton
• 21/08/21: Brighton 2-0 Watford

Despite this new-found attacking football that Palace play under Vieria, they have drawn blanks in four of their six matches so far.

At the same time however, they are yet to concede at Selhurst. If they record a shut out against Brighton, then it will be the first time since 1979 that they have recorded three clean sheets at home to start a top flight season.

The Albion defence meanwhile has looked pretty imperious as well, bar the Everton game and the lovely linesman against Leicester.

That Everton game though could give cause for concern; Brighton did not deal well with the Toffees’ tricky wingers. Zaha is every bit as good as Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend, as we well know.

• 18/09/21: Liverpool 3-0 Crystal Palace
• 11/09/21: Crystal Palace 3-0 Spurs
• 28/08/21: West Ham 2-2 Crystal Palace
• 24/08/21: Watford 1-0 Crystal Palace
• 21/08/21: Crystal Palace 0-0 Brentford
• 14/08/21: Chelsea 3-0 Crystal Palace

Last time we met
An absolute shambles at the Amex back in February, 90 minutes which summed up the 2020-21 season in a nutshell. Palace had two touches in the penalty box and scored both, including an injury time winner. Brighton had what felt like two million efforts on goal and scored once.

Crystal Palace v Brighton head-to-head
There have been 145 meetings between Crystal Palace and Brighton and it is Palace who lead the way, winning 61 games compared to the Albion’s 50 across 13 different competitions.

Potter is winless in four matches against Palace as Albion manager, drawing two and losing two. No time like the present to put that record straight…

A reason why Crystal Palace will win
They always end up getting one over us, don’t they? Even in those two seasons Brighton have finished above Palace in the past 30 years, they became the first away side to win a league game at the Amex and then knocked the Albion out of the Championship playoffs.

A reason why Brighton will win
At some point, a Palace v Brighton game has to go to form. If the Albion really are to make a push for the top 10 this season (or the title) then this is exactly the sort of game they have to be able to win.

Crystal Palace v Brighton betting
The past two matches between Palace and Brighton at Selhurst have ended in draws and that offers a decent price at 24/11.

As for scorers, Zaha is always worth a bet if you want to try and soften the blow of his inevitable goal. He is 3/1 and another player who loves a goal against a rival is Neal Maupay who is 5/2.

Zaha and Maupay scoring in a 1-1 draw and you might even be able to win enough to afford a bag of Starbust at the Amex for the Arsenal game.

Predictions
Prediction of score: Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton
Prediction of xG: Crystal Palace 0.0000001 – 7.98 Brighton
Prediction of number of times Martin Tyler calls it the M23 Derby: 22