Brighton eager to end five-game winless run as Bees visit.
[introduction]
After a draw with West Ham, the Seagulls take on the Bees, hoping to end a five-match winless streak. Brighton vs. Brentford kicks off at 19:30 [GMT] on Friday, December 27, at American Express Stadium.
[home]
Brighton were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham at the London Stadium last Saturday. Albion went in front six minutes into the second half, with Mats Wieffer scoring his first goal for the club. However, the Hammers equalised seven minutes later, when Jarrod Bowen’s shot was parried by Bart Verbruggen, only for Mohammed Kudus to head in the rebound. The Seagulls [DLDLD] have now gone five league games without a win, a stark contrast to their early season form, and now sit 10th on the table with 25 points [6W, 7W, 4D]. Fabian Hürzeler will hope his side can end this poor run when they welcome the Bees to American Express Stadium two days after Christmas. The Seagulls will hope to continue their recent trend at home against the visitors, having won two and drawn one in the last three times they have hosted this fixture in the top flight [2W, 1D, 0L]. However, one of the keys to achieving this will be seeing off the game, especially if they score first. In the three draws within their last five league games, Brighton have opened the scoring, only to lose the lead. Georginio Rutter led the attack in a 4—2—3—1 formation against West Ham and is expected to retain his spot when Hürzeler deploys the same setup against Brentford.
[away]
Brentford are going through a rough patch, having lost their last three matches across all competitions. A 2-1 defeat to Chelsea was followed by a 3-1 loss to Newcastle in the EFL Cup, before succumbing to a 2-0 loss against Nottingham Forest in their last league outing. Brentford, who have now lost their last two Premier League games [WLWLL], will hope they can make a return to the top half of the EPL standings by the end of this round of fixtures. The Bees are 12th in the standings, having picked up 23 points [7W, 2D, 8L], two points behind Friday’s opposition, who occupy the final spot in the top half. However, Thomas Frank’s side are the worst travellers in the current campaign, having picked up just one point on the road, while only Everton [10 points] have picked up fewer away points than the Bees [11 points] in 2024. To make matters worse, Brentford are in a torrid run of form against Brighton, winning just one of the last seven games against the hosts [1W, 3D, 3L]. A 4—3—3 formation with an attacking trio of Bryan Mbeumo, Wissa, and Kevin Schade in attack may be seen.
