Plucky Little Bournemouth away always a banana skin for Brighton
Plucky Little Bournemouth away is the sort of game that strikes fear into the hearts of Brighton fans. No Albion side has come away from the Vitality Stadium with three points since 2007.
So long ago in fact that the ground has undergone four name changes in the intervening period. When Bas Savage was busy moonwalking in front of the away stand to celebrate a League One victory, he was doing so inside the Fitness First Stadium, which has subsequently been christened the Seward Stadium, the Goldsands Stadium and now the Vitality Stadium.
Bournemouth were relegated from League One at the end of that 2007-08 season, which proved to be the start of their fairy tale rise from the bottom division all the way to the Premier League.
We of course use fairy tale in the loosest sense of the word. As far as anyone can remember, the likes of Cinderella, Snow White and Jack and the Beanstalk were never funded by millions and millions of roubles, nor did they rack up losses of £55 million in winning promotion from the Championship last season.
There is nothing plucky nor little about a club who are bankrolled to steam their way into the top flight, living far beyond their means. This romantic notion of the Cherries battling against the odds to reach the promised land is a falsity.
What it also shows is just how much of a financial commitment is needed to survive in the Premier League. Even with their Russian and now American owners chucking cash at the Bournemouth project, they remain a club whose past four seasons have been spent yo-yoing between Championship and top division.
Another reminder of how well run the Albion, Brentford and Fulham are to be fighting for Europe in the current campaign whilst the Cherries sit 17th, one point outside the relegation zone.
This latest trip to the Vitality Stadium is therefore massive for both clubs. The lower half of the table is so congested that a Bournemouth win would lift them up to 13th, putting four points and four clubs between themselves and the bottom three.
Spurs being held 1-1 by Everton on Monday evening means a Brighton victory would move the Seagulls to within four points of fourth with two games in hand.
At which point, Brighton surely enter the conversation regarding the race for the Champions League; which no pundit or media outlet so far has included them within.
Where the Albion’s hopes of facing the crème de la crème of Europe next season may come unstuck is through fixture congestion.
Brighton have played fewer games than any other club in the Premier League and are facing a hectic final seven weeks of the campaign.
Careful management of player game time is going to be critical. Roberto De Zerbi has already touched upon this, revealing that Adam Webster will start for Brighton against Bournemouth.
De Zerbi has also said that those players who were on international duty last week the other side of the world will be looked after.
Moises Caicedo and Pervis Estupinan both played twice for Ecuador in Australia, taking two 25 hour flights to do so. Alexis Mac Allister practically had a week off in comparison, with just a couple of 14 hour trips to Buenos Aires.
It will be fascinating to see who De Zerbi opts to rest. Equally interesting were his other pre-game comments, including the assertion that Brighton would beat Bournemouth if they play to 90 percent of their capability.
A bold claim but one that gives some insight into his thinking. It also tallies with what we saw at the Amex in February, where the Seagulls were not at their best but still found a way to win 1-0 via a late Kaoru Mitoma goal.
If De Zerbi believes performance levels can drop by 10 percent and the Albion still get a result, then he maybe willing to make more changes than many Seagulls supporters would be expecting.
That is not without risk, even if Brighton face a huge game away at Spurs at the weekend. Bournemouth are fighting for their lives, and that is before you even take into account the Albion turning to jelly whenever they cross the border into Dorset.
Graham Potter, Chris Hughton, Oscar Garcia and Gus Poyet were all excellent managers. None of them could mastermind a league win at the Fitness First/Seward/Goldsands/Vitality Stadium. Sami Hyypia was not quite so good; needless to say, he could not do it either.
Before that October 2007 night when Savage and Dean Cox were on target in a 2-0 win for Dean Wilkins’ Albion, you have to go back to February 1995 to find the previous Brighton win at the old Dean Court.
Two league successes in 30 years. That is what De Zerbi is up against and it is why a lot of Brighton fans will be nervous about facing Bournemouth; more nervous than the Spurs game on Saturday, in fact.
And it is why victory against the Cherries would feel like a big moment. If the Albion can defy the history books and make the 96 mile trip (please note that distance for anyone referring to this as a south coast derby) back with three points in the bag, then suddenly anything will seem possible.
Even Champions League qualification.
