Preview: Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers – prediction, team news, lineups

Still seething from their latest perceived VAR injustice, Wolverhampton Wanderers head south to tackle Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex in Saturday’s Premier League encounter.

Gary O’Neil‘s basement battlers suffered an excruciating 2-1 loss to holders Manchester City last weekend, while their hosts were triumphant against Newcastle United by a goal to nil.

Match preview

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In an avian battle between the Magpies and the Seagulls last weekend, Eddie Howe‘s men were soaring and barely allowed Brighton to venture out of their own half for large portions of the match, but their shooting boots eluded them at the worst possible time.

On the other side of the coin, Brighton needed just one opening to breach the net of Nick Pope as Danny Welbeck prodded home the only goal of the contest at St James’ Park, although his serious-looking injury did put a dampener on the visitors’ success.

However, there have been no October frights as far as results go for Fabian Hurzeler‘s side, who magnificently fought back from two goals down against Tottenham Hotspur at the start of the month and are flying high in fifth place in the Premier League table with 15 points.

As Arsenal are not in action until Sunday, a third successive win for Brighton this weekend would temporarily launch them into the Champions League positions, and Hurzeler is yet to suffer his first loss at the Amex, overseeing four victories and two draws in all competitions at the Seagulls’ base thus far.

Including the five-goal thriller with Wolves in the EFL Cup just a matter of weeks ago, Brighton’s last three home matches have produced a mammoth 14 goals – eight for the Seagulls and six against – but they only have a 27% Premier League win record against teams beginning the weekend in the relegation zone.

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Wolves boss O’Neil will no doubt feel that his side do not deserve to be below the dotted line, though, as the Old Gold were momentarily on track for a momentous victory over champions Man City when Jorgen Strand Larsen found the mark just seven minutes in.

An outrageous Josko Gvardiol equaliser quickly put paid to that idea, but the Molineux outfit were just seconds away from putting a serious dent into City’s five-in-a-row aspirations, until John Stones became the Sky Blues’ injury-time hero once more.

As is customary with Wolves, though, VAR controversy reared its ugly head, as while Bernardo Silva was briefly impeding Jose Sa from an offside position, the officials determined that the diminutive Portuguese did not impact his compatriot’s ability to save Stones’s header.

A miffed O’Neil could now find himself in hot water with the FA after questioning whether there is an unconscious bias towards title-challenging teams, and the table still makes for grim reading for the 20th-placed visitors, who have now lost six on the trot in all competitions.

Wolves’ horrific run is through no fault of their attackers, as the visitors have scored in each of their last nine games in all tournaments but could now become the first since Man City in 1960 to lose six top-flight games in a row while netting in each of them.

A pair of strikes from O’Neil’s men were also in vain during September’s 3-2 EFL Cup loss to Brighton, who are also unbeaten in their last five Premier League games against the West Midlands side, taking 13 points from a possible 15 in that hot streak.

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:

Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):

Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:

Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions):

Team News

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There was serious concern for Welbeck when he was given oxygen and stretchered off against Newcastle with a back injury, but the striker has now confirmed that his problem is not as bad as first feared, and he is already training again ahead of Saturday’s game

However, Hurzeler will surely have to find an alternative solution up front this weekend, where Evan Ferguson could now act as the focal point as Kaoru Mitoma replaces the stricken Welbeck – Simon Adingra and Yankuba Minteh are both doubts.

Welbeck is one of six Seagulls who might sit out the visit of Wolves, a list that also includes Solly March (knee), Adam Webster (thigh), Joao Pedro (ankle), James Milner (thigh) and Matt O’Riley (ankle).

As for Wolves, it is largely as you were on the injury front, as Sasa Kalajdzic, Enso Gonzalez, Yerson Mosquera and Boubacar Traore are still recovering from knee injuries, while Hwang Hee-chan has been ruled out for a few weeks with an ankle problem.

O’Neil also lost goalkeeper Sam Johnstone to an adductor problem before the loss to Man City, but Sa performed excellently in his place and could very well hold his position even if the Englishman is fit again for the trip to the Amex.

The visiting manager also confirmed that Andre‘s half-time withdrawal against Man City was tactical, but he still did his bit defensively in the first half and should retain his place in the first XI on Saturday.

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Veltman, Dunk, Igor, Kadioglu; Baleba, Hinshelwood; Mitoma, Rutter, Ayari; Ferguson

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Toti, Bueno, Dawson; Semedo, Gomes, Andre, Lemina, Ait-Nouri; Larsen, Cunha

We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

As potent as Wolves can be in the final third, O’Neil’s men just cannot shut up shop no matter how hard they try, but their defensive efforts with a back three against Man City were highly praiseworthy.

Should O’Neil employ a similar rearguard shape on Saturday, we can envisage Wolves surprising a few and nicking a point against their hosts, especially if the red-hot Welbeck is spearhead the Brighton attack.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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