Brighton & Hove Albion will host Nottingham Forest at the Amex Stadium on Sunday, aiming to continue their unbeaten start to the season.
Brighton & Hove Albion will be confident of grinding out a positive result against Nottingham Forest in front of their home fans on Sunday afternoon, and they certainly have the quality to do so as well.
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest have made an impressive start to the season as well, and they are unbeaten in the Premier League so far. The Tricky Trees are coming into this game on the back of a shock away win over Liverpool at Anfield, and they will be confident of grinding out a good result at Brighton as well.
The visitors have shown that they have the quality to grind out results at tough away venues, and it remains to be seen whether they can get the job done here. Both teams are quite evenly matched on current form, and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top here.
Team News & Tactics
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion will be without Matt O’Riley due to an ankle injury. Brajan Gruda misses out with a knock, James Milner has a thigh injury, and Solly March is ruled out with a knee injury.
The home side are likely to shape up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Bart Verbruggen in goal. Joel Veltman and Pervis Estupinan will start as the full-backs. They will look to contribute at both ends of the pitch. Jan Paul van Hecke will form the central defensive pairing alongside Lewis Dunk.
Mats Wieffer and Carlos Baleba will start in the midfield double pivot. They will look to protect the defensive unit and break down opposition attacks. Georginio Rutter will start as the central attacking midfielder. He will look to link up with Danny Welbeck in the final third and create opportunities for his teammates in the final third. Yankuba Minteh and Kaoru Mitoma will start on the flanks.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Veltman, Dunk, van Hecke, Estupinan; Wieffer, Baleba; Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma; Welbeck
Nottingham Forest
Danilo is ruled out with an ankle injury and Ibrahim Sangare is out with a thigh injury. Nottingham Forest will shape up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Matz Sels in goal. Neco Williams and Ola Aina will start as the full-backs.
They will look to add defensive cover to the side and help out during counter-attacking situations. Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo will start at the heart of the defence. As for the midfield unit, James Ward-Prowse will start alongside Elliot Anderson in the double pivot, and they will look to add creativity and control to the side alongside.
Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi will start in the wide areas, and they will look to open up the home defence with their pace and flair. Morgan Gibbs-White will add creativity in the final third. Finally, Chris Wood will lead the line for Nottingham Forest against Brighton.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Sels; Williams, Milenkovic, Murillo, Aina; Ward-Prowse, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood
Key Stats
- Brighton & Hove Albion have kept a clean sheet in six of their last eight home matches against Nottingham Forest in all competitions.
- Nottingham Forest are undefeated in their last five matches in the Premier League.
- Brighton & Hove Albion are unbeaten in four of the last six matches against Nottingham Forest.
- 16 goals have been scored in the last six matches between Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest.
- Danny Welbeck has scored a Premier League goal against 25 different opponents but has not managed to score in any of his three top-flight appearances versus Nottingham Forest.
Player to Watch
Morgan Gibbs-White
The Nottingham Forest attacking midfielder is our key player to watch out for. The 24-year-old will look to create goalscoring opportunities in the final third and carve out spaces in the home defence. His ability to create opportunities with his passing and vision could prove to be very useful.
Gibbs-White has created an unrivalled 11 chances from open play in the Premier League this season. Furthermore, he can take on defenders and beat them in one versus one situations. He will look to create chances for his teammates and add to his goalscoring tally as well.
Prediction
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Both teams will be desperate for all three points here, and they will certainly fancy their chances against each other. Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest are unbeaten in the league so far, and they will look to continue that run of form.
This is likely to be a close contest on current form and it will be difficult to separate the two teams. They could look to cancel each other out. Brighton and Nottingham Forest are likely to share the spoils here. The Hard Tackle predicts a 1-1 draw between Brighton and Nottingham Forest.