Brighton & Hove Albion’s 2020-21 Premier League fixtures revealed
Brighton & Hove Albion have found out their fixtures for the 2020-21 Premier League season, which will kick off against Chelsea on Monday 14th September.
The Albion have never beaten the Blues in a league match before and with Frank Lampard splashing the cash on players like Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech – and potentially £40 million on Lewis Dunk or Ben White – it represents a ridiculously tough first game.
Newcastle United will provide the opponents in the first away match on Saturday 19th September. Manchester United visit the Amex in the final fixture of the opening month on Saturday 26th September.
October begins with a trip to Everton on Saturday 3rd with the first derby day of the season taking place on Saturday 17th when Brighton travel to Crystal Palace. Graham Potter will be looking for his maiden win over the Eagles following a draw and a defeat in 2019-20.
The first of six fixtures against newly promoted sides in 2020-21 takes place when Brighton host West Bromwich Albion on Saturday 24th October.
Halloween will be spent at Tottenham Hotspur, where Brighton will be looking to put a fright up Jose Mourinho, Harry Kane and co on Saturday 31st October.
Into November and Burnley visit the Amex on Saturday 7th followed by a trip to 1982 European Champions Aston Villa on Saturday 21st. Reigning Premier League champions Liverpool come to Sussex on Saturday 28th.
Six games are crammed into December, starting with Southampton at home on Saturday 5th and Leicester City away on Saturday 12th. Fulham away is scheduled for midweek as it always seem to be, taking place on Tuesday 15th December.
Brighton will be hoping for a better performance at Craven Cottage than our last visit back in 2019 when Chris Hughton’s Albion surrendered a 2-0 lead to lose 4-2.
For the second season running, Sheffield United will provide the pre-Christmas opposition at the Amex on Saturday December 19th. Boxing Day sends Brighton to the London Stadium to face West Ham United which – presuming away fans are allowed by then – should be a fun experience getting to and from with no public transport. Two days later and it is Arsenal at home to round off 2020.
Should Potter actually treat the FA Cup with a little bit of respect in 2020-21, then Brighton could face seven fixtures in January – five in the Premier League as well as third and fourth round ties in the world’s greatest cup competition.
2021 kicks off with Wolverhampton Wanderers at home on Saturday 2nd January. There is FA Cup action on the 9th, Manchester City away on Wednesday 13th, the Ben White Derby at The Leeds United on Saturday 16th, FA Cup again on the 23rd, Fulham at home on Tuesday 26th and Spurs at home on Saturday 30th.
The Albion begin February with a midweek trip to Anfield on Wednesday 3rd. They remain in the north west to step back in time to the 19th century by experiencing Burnley away on Saturday 6th.
A week later and it is 1982 European Champions Villa at the Amex on Saturday 13th February followed by Palace’s visit on Saturday 20th. February is rounded off with a trip to West Brom on Saturday 27th, home of the only away concourse in the country where you can have a brandy at half time.
Leicester at home, Southampton away and Newcastle at home fill the Albion’s March fixtures followed by April, the penultimate month of the 2020-21 season in which Brighton go to Old Trafford on Saturday 3rd, host Everton on the 10th, travel to Chelsea on the 17th and make the journey to Sheffield United on the 24th.
May begins with a home game against The Leeds United on Saturday 1st, who will have already won the Premier League title with four games to spare if you listen to some of their more deluded supporters.
Wolves away follows on Saturday 8th May, there is one final midweek fixture at home to West Ham on Tuesday 11th before two incredibly tough matches round off the campaign – Manchester City at home on Saturday 15th and Arsenal away on Saturday 22nd.
😁 CONFIRMED!
👇 A full rundown of our 2020/21 @premierleague schedule!#BHAFC 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/dKwmxYSWF7
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) August 20, 2020
The most striking aspect of the 2020-21 fixture list for Brighton is that games with the big six seem to be relatively spread out. In the Albion’s four previous top flight seasons, the tough games have come in clusters which has often meant periods of four-to-six weeks in which you wondered where the next point was coming from.
As always, all fixtures are subject to change due to the considerate television companies. There is also the possibility that the season will have to be put on hold again should a second wave of coronavirus hit once winter arrives and temperatures plummet.
We do not know yet whether fans will be allowed into stadiums. Brighton held an informative Q&A earlier in the week regarding their plans to reopen the Amex, but all of that requires government approval and guidance – hardly something which fills you with confidence given that Boris Johnson and co have made of virtually everything since March.
Normally, the release of the fixtures is a cause for celebration, seeing which away game is closest to your birthday, planning train journeys and looking forward to that totally unnecessary 11pm Burger King at London Victoria Station on the way back from a 0-0 draw at Burnley.
Not this year, which is perhaps why there does not seem to be much excitement surrounding it. Just as with the final nine games of 2019-20, it is football – but not as we know it.
