PREVIEW: BRIGHTON & HA

27 February 2019

All the stats and information ahead of Brighton & Hove Albion vs Huddersfield Town

- Match preview ahead of the Terriers’ trip to the AMEX Stadium
- Team news ahead of the Premier League match
- Fantasy Premier League stats and preview ahead of Saturday’s game

Huddersfield Town will make the trip to the South Coast to face Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday 2 March 2019. Chris Hughton’s Brighton will meet with Jan Siewert’s Terriers for a 3pm kick-off.

The Head Coach will be hoping to see his side pick up its first away points of his reign in West Yorkshire, against 16th place Albion.

To this point in the season, Brighton & HA has picked up a total of 19 points from 13 home games.

The hosts come in to the game off the back of a 2-1 defeat against Leicester still searching for their first Premier League win since beating Everton on Saturday 29 December 2018.

Brighton & HA won the reverse fixture 2-1 at the John Smith’s Stadium, when the two sides met earlier in the season.

The Terriers’ last triumph over Brighton was a 2-0 home win in December 2017 in the first ever meeting between the two clubs in the Premier League.

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION LINE-UP AGAINST LEICESTER CITY (4-3-3)

GK: Mat Ryan

RB: Martín Montoya
CB: Shane Duffy
CB: Lewis Dunk (c)
LB: Gaëtan Bong

CM: Pascal Groß
CM: Dale Stephens
CM: Davy Pröpper

RW: Solly March
ST: Glenn Murray
LW: Antony Knockaert

Key Players – FPL Preview

Glenn Murray – 4.5

Murray has been the spearhead of the Brighton attack in recent times, having returned to the South Coast Club for the second permanent spell of his career from AFC Bournemouth in 2017. At the age of 35, the striker is enjoying another relatively prolific season, netting 10 goals in the league in 2018/19. Murray is the joint second-highest scoring Englishman in the Premier League this season with AFC Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson, behind only Harry Kane of Tottenham (15).

Pascal Groß – 3.5

The midfielder came to England off the back of an eye-catching season in the Bundesliga with FC Ingolstadt 04 in 2016/17, creating more chances than any other player in the league. Groß played every game of his debut Premier League season on the South Coast and was voted Brighton’s Player of the Season, but a long-term ankle injury has seen the German miss a large part of the current campaign. A lengthy spell on the sideline has seen the creative midfielder only rack up two goals in 18 league outings this season.

Shane Duffy – 3.3

The central defender has been one of Albion’s standout performers so far this season, developing a strong defensive partnership with fellow centre-back and vice-captain Lewis Dunk. The Republic of Ireland international has contributed to a total of five clean sheets for the Seagulls in 22 games. Much of the attention may be on Everton academy graduate’s defensive strengths this season, but Dunk has also proved to be handy in attack, putting together five goals and two assists – making him the highest scoring defender in the league this season.

Team News – Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton & HA Manager Chris Hughton is likely to be without defender Leon Balogun due to injury but will have Romanian forward Florin Andone back at his disposal following the completion of his suspension.

FPL Injury News – Brighton & Hove Albion

Leon Balogun – Knock – Unknown return date
Max Sanders – Knock – 75% chance of playing
Pascal Groß – Muscle injury – 75% chance of playing

Team News – Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield Town Head Coach Jan Siewert will provide the latest update on his team during Thursday’s Press Conference at PPG Canalside.

Tommy Smith is suspended for the game at the AMEX.

FPL Injury News – Huddersfield Town

Adama Diakhaby – Hamstring injury – Unknown return date
Isaac Mbenza – Calf injury – Expected back 16 March
Danny Williams – Lack of match fitness – Unknown return date
Abdelhamid Sabiri – Lack of match fitness – 75% chance of playing

Tickets

A limited number of tickets remain available in Town’s allocation for the game at the AMEX Stadium. CLICK HERE to buy yours now!

Supporter Information

If you’re heading down to Brighton to watch Town away, then take a look at the Seagulls’ Fan Guide for supporters by CLICKING HERE.

Food and Drink: Refreshments are available from catering vans outside the Stadium as well as from the kiosks in the Stadium concourses, which will be open 2 hours before kick-off. All kiosks accept card payment via contactless or chip and pin.
Smoking: Amex stadium is a smoke- free Stadium. Smoking (including electronic cigarettes) is prohibited in ALL areas.
Banners/ Flags: Banners over 150cm x 150cm, you will be required to obtain authorization from the Club in advance. To gain this please email: supporter.services@bhafc.co.uk
Turnstiles: Open 2 hours before kick-off.
Visiting fans pubs: Yates and Weatherspoon’s on West Street central Brighton would be recommended for any travelling supporters however visiting supporters are welcome to drink at the stadium pre match.

Kit

Town will be wearing the red and black striped alternative kit for Saturday’s Premier League visit to Brighton. Buy yours by CLICKING HERE.

#HTTV

If you can’t make it to the game, why not listen to full commentary provided by BBC Radio Leeds via #HTTV? Click here to find out more.

Match Reports

REPORT: BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 1-0 TOWN

2 March 2019

Substitute Florin Andone netted a second-half winner to condemn the Terriers to defeat at the AMEX.

A low-key affair was defined by one piece of clinical finishing by the Romanian from Knockaert's cross which kept the points on the South Coast.

There was just one change made to the starting XI by Jan Siewert at the AMEX; Juninho Bacuna replaced Duheaco Duhaney at right-back. In terms of milestones, Alex Pritchard celebrated his 150th career start in English football. Many impressed in Tuesday's succes over Wolves, none more so than Jon Gorenc Stanković. The Slovenian retained his place in Sussex, starting back-to-back league games for the first time since November 2016.

15 minutes had passed without any meaningful action; Town allowed to dominate possession in a bid to break down a deep Brighton defensive line. Jon Gorenc Stanković, once again, looked composed in the '6', and he had to be aware to divert a dangerous free-kick delivery away for a corner as the notoriously physical presences of Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy lurked.

It was a matter of patience to work an opening. As the ball broke loose in the centre of the pitch, Jonathan Hogg drove forward and slid through to Steve Mounié, who'd timed his run to perfection in-behind Dunk. Unfortunately, Hoggy slightly over weighted the pass allowing Australian 'keeper Mat Ryan to collect.

Alex Pritchard tested Ryan from distance, and what looked like a fairly routine save ended up being spilled. Karlan Grant followed in for the rebound, but the Albion stopper recovered to punch away before the red and black-clad Terriers could find the net.

Terence Kongolo's blushes were spared as a wayward pass aiming for Philip Billing fell to Yves Bissouma. The latter capitalised on a defensive gap to send Glenn Murray on his way, only for the striker's route to goal impressively halted by a superb sliding challenge from Christopher Schindler.

The Seagulls were edging into the contest, and came as close as any side had come five minutes before the interval. Iranian international Alireza Jahanbakhsh cut inside from the left to unleash a rasping right-footed effort. Jonas Lössl could only stand and watch as a combination of power and dip resulted in the cross-bar keeping the encounter goalless.

Town may well have gone into the dressing room a goal to the good, had Juninho Bacuna's injury-time purposeful run and shot found the corner instead of Ryan producing a smart save to deny the Dutchman.

Bacuna switched into defensive mode upon the commencing of the second period. Juninho covered magnificently to slide in and thwart Murray as he was about to pull the trigger whilst one-on-one with Jonas Lössl.

Brighton had a spring in their steps after a low-key first 45. Jahanbakhsh forced Lössl into a reaction save down low, eventually clinching at the follow-up attempt having seen it squirm underneath inches from the line.

A theme of excellent recovery tackles had occurred throughout; Terence Kongolo was the next man to put his body on the line, covering a reasonable amount of ground to cut off substitute Florin Andone's advances.

Town weren't fazed by the home side's improvement. A series of crosses were cleared, and Philip Billing finally tried his luck to no avail, comfortably dealt with by Ryan.

Lössl continued to keep Albion out. A strong right-hand denied Andone after the Romanian was allowed to turn and shoot on the edge of the area.

Andone made no mistake next time around, nipping in ahead of the Town defence to tuck home a late opener from Anthony Knockaert's clever delivery.

After going behind, Town looked to find an equaliser with Ryan tipping a powerful Mounié header over the bar.

Siewert's players continued to press forward but couldn't find a response, and it was Chris Hughton's outfit who made sure of the victory.

Town return to action in HD1 next Saturday, welcoming AFC Bournemouth to the John Smith's Stadium (9 March 2019, 3pm).

TOWN (4-1-2-1-2)

Jonas Lössl; Erik Durm, Terence Kongolo, Christopher Schindler (c), Juninho Bacuna; Jon Gorenc Stanković (Florent Hadergjonaj, 66'), Jonathan Hogg (Aaron Mooy, 40'), Philip Billing; Alex Pritchard (Elias Kachunga, 62'); Karlan Grant, Steve Mounié

UNUSED SUBS

Ben Hamer, Chris Löwe, Zanka, Matty Daly

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION

Mathew Ryan; Bernardo, Lewis Dunk (c), Shane Duffy, Martín Montoya; Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Jose Izquierdo, 77'), Yves Bissouma (Beram Kayal, 83'), Dale Stephens, Davy Pröpper, Anthony Knockaert; Glenn Murray (Florin Andone, 56')

UNUSED SUBS

David Button, Gaetan Bong, Dan Burn, Solly March

REFEREE

Mike Dean

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