12 Jun 2019
Brighton fans consider this clash a local derby. The M23 derby to be precise. Their argument is that fellow south coast clubs Portsmouth and Southampton are further away and whilst it is true that there are only 46 miles separating the Seagulls from the Eagles, they often lose sight of the fact that you have to travel past league club Crawley Town to get to Selhurst Park.
The way Brighton have been playing of late, it may be that they may find themselves playing their League 2 Sussex neighbours, rather than Palace, before too much longer, as they have slipped dangerously close to being in a relegation fight.
Of course, this fierce rivalry between the fans dates back to the Sixties and Seventies, when Brighton changed their nickname from Dolphins to Seagulls – to rival the Crystal Palace chants of “Eagles”. It did not help when, in 1976, then-Albion manager Alan Mullery stuck two fingers up at the Palace fans after an FA Cup tie.
Chris Hughton and Roy Hodgson have greater respect for one another and for respective sets of rival supporters than Mullery and then-Palace boss Terry Venables ever did. Yet they could still meet in the FA Cup this season.
Hughton’s Albion have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals and they will travel to Millwall on Sunday week with a big chance of making the semis, yet their league form is troubling.
They are five points above third-from-bottom Cardiff City, albeit with a game in hand, but their 1-0 win over bottom-placed Huddersfield last weekend was their first in the league since beating Palace 3-1 at home in early December.
They do have some easier games coming up, but the fact remains they are not playing well as they bid to do the double over Palace for the first time since the 1983-84 season.
The Genting Casino Premier League odds have Brighton at 7/2 to win at Selhurst Park.
Palace are three points and two places above Brighton in 13th, although they have played a game more. While Palace are 100/1 to be relegated, Brighton are just 14/1.
Hodgson’s side have also managed to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals and travel to Watford for another lunchtime kick-off next Saturday, so they may have been similarly distracted.
Palace’s home form has not been great. They have won just one of their last six home games (D2 L3) and have taken just 13 points at home from their overall tally of 33.
It would appear that both teams would settle for a point if it came to it, and the draw is on offer at 5/2.
TEAM NEWS
Brighton have suffered a blow with Pascal Gross being ruled out of the trip to Selhurst Park. The influential midfielder has still not recovered from a hamstring injury picked up two weeks ago. Aside from that, Brighton will be near full strength.
Mamadou Sakho, Connor Wickham, Pape Souare and Julian Speroni are all out for the hosts, but Palace have a deeper squad and their form is better, having lost just once in their last eight matches in all competitions, and winning three of their last four.
Palace were worthy winners against Burnley at Turf Moor last weekend and will be confident of beating a Brighton side that has picked up just eight points on their travels this season.
PALACE TO AVENGE LOSS?
While Palace have struggled in attack for much of the early part of the season, they have now scored in 12 successive matches and they have lost just one of their last home meetings with Albion in their last nine meetings (W6 D2).
It is no surprise to see Palace at odds of 17/20 to beat Brighton.
The Seagulls have not travelled well to London this season and they have lost five of their seven trips to the capital (W1 D1). Brighton are 17/20 to either win or draw on the Double Chance market.
Palace have struggled to score at home and there have been just 25 goals scored at Selhurst Park in the last 14 Premier League games, with Palace netting just 10 of them.
With Albion also suffering in front of goal lately, the odds for there to be under 2.5 total goals scored are 4/6. Yet historically, goals have rarely been a problem when these two meet, and seven of the last 11 meetings yielded three goals or more in total.
Brighton have had trouble defending Wilfried Zaha in the past. The Palace marksman has netting five times in nine appearances against Albion and he is 9/5 to score at any time on Saturday. Zaha is on offer at 5/1 to score the first goal.
Both teams have scored in their last three meetings, but it may be with noting that Albion have failed to register a goal in four of their last eight clashes with Palace.
Outside of former Palace man Glenn Murray, who is 9/5 to score at any time, Albion lack a regular goalscorer and there will be some banking on Palace keeping a clean sheet at odds of 6/5.
For all the odds on this vital Premier League game, click here.
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