Albion v Palace
PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: The American Express Stadium
Date: Saturday 3rd February 2024
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Simon Hooper
Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Simon Long
Fourth Official: James Bell
VAR: Craig Pawson
Additional VAR: Adam Nunn
TEAM NEWS
Brighton & Hove Albion forward Joao Pedro faces a late fitness test after he was forced off during Tuesday's defeat at Luton Town.
James Milner is sidelined after sustaining a hamstring injury at Luton, although Ansu Fati could feature.
Crystal Palace forward Eberechi Eze requires a scan to determine the extent of a hamstring injury but Michael Olise is available.
New signings Adam Wharton and Daniel Munoz could make their debuts.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Brighton could win consecutive home league games against Crystal Palace for the first time since a run of seven victories between 1979 and 1988.
- However, Albion's only victory in the last nine Premier League meetings was 1-0 at home last season. Patrick Vieira was sacked as Palace manager after that defeat.
- The Eagles have failed to beat Brighton in five Premier League encounters since a 2-1 away win in February 2021 (D4, L1).
- Brighton are on a club-record run of nine consecutive top-flight home matches unbeaten. The only visiting team to win at the Amex Stadium this season was West Ham United in August.
- Albion had 42 shots without scoring across their three league fixtures in January. They had failed to net in only two of their 41 league games in 2023.
- Prior to their goalless draw with Wolves on 22 January, the Seagulls had scored and conceded in 13 successive Premier League home matches. Brighton have never had back-to-back 0-0 draws at the Amex Stadium.
- They could become the first team to fail to score in their first four Premier League games in a calendar year since Leicester City in 2017.
- Joao Pedro is the only person to play in all 31 of Brighton's competitive fixtures this season, scoring 18 goals.
- Evan Ferguson has failed to score in his last eight Premier League appearances and Danny Welbeck has netted once in his last 10 league games, although that did come in the reverse fixture against Crystal Palace.
- Crystal Palace have won two of their last three Premier League matches, having triumphed in only three of the previous 15.
- The Eagles have scored three goals in each of their past two games, following a run of doing so just once in 23 league fixtures.
- They can earn consecutive league victories for the first time since April, when they won their first three matches after reappointing Roy Hodgson as manager.
- All three of Palace's Premier League away wins this season have been with clean sheets. They have only won one of their last 19 league away fixtures when conceding, beating Leeds 5-1 in April.
- Michael Olise has been directly involved in at least one goal in each of his five most recent Premier League appearances, scoring five and assisting three.
- Olise could become the first Palace player to score or assist in six consecutive Premier League matches.
- All five of Eberechi Eze's league goals this season have come at Selhurst Park. He has failed to score in 12 away appearances since netting both goals in a 2-0 win at Southampton in April.
- Olise and Eze have started together in only four of Palace's 22 Premier League games this season. The pair scored all eight of the Eagles' goals in those four matches: five by Olise and three by Eze.
Roberto De Zerbi's Palace Press Conference
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