Brighton and Hove Albion vs Derby County; The FA Cup Fifth Round
Brighton and Hove Albion vs Derby County. The FA Cup Fifth Round.
Amex StadiumAttendance24,562.
Brighton and Hove Albion 2
- A Knockaert (33rd minute)
- J Locadia (47th minute)
Derby County 1
- A Cole (81st minute)
Brighton vs Derby County preview: Solly March doubtful for FA Cup fifth-round tie
Saturday 16 February 2019 11:36, UK
Solly March is Brighton's only major injury doubt for the FA Cup fifth-round tie at home to Derby on Saturday (kick-off 12.30pm).
The winger will be assessed on the ankle problem which forced him off in last Saturday's Premier League defeat to Burnley.
Albion boss Chris Hughton revealed a few unnamed players are suffering with knocks.
Winger Jose Izquierdo, who has not featured since early December, is back in training following a knee problem and could feature, but forward Florin Andone is suspended.
Jack Marriott could return for Derby after missing the last four games with illness and injury.
The forward was unwell for the FA Cup fourth-round victory over Accrington before an ankle problem sidelined him.
Martin Olsson (knee) has been out since last May while fellow left-back Craig Forsyth (knee) is also out for the season.
Defender Curtis Davies' campaign ended in November when he ruptured his Achilles against Stoke.
Opta stats
- Brighton are unbeaten in five meetings with Derby in all competitions (W2 D3), with their last meeting ending in a 3-0 victory in the Championship in March 2017.
- This is just the third time Derby and Brighton have been drawn against each other in the FA Cup - the Rams won 10-1 over two legs in the fifth round in February 1946, before the Seagulls won 3-1 in round three in January 1961.
- Brighton have only reached the FA Cup quarter-finals on three previous occasions, doing so in 1982-83, 1985-86 and 2017-18.
- Derby are looking to reach the FA Cup quarter-final for the first time since 1998-99, losing at this stage four times since.
- All five of Derby's FA Cup goals this season have come in the second half of games, with the last three coming in the final 15 minutes.
- Over the last two seasons, Brighton's Glenn Murray has scored four goals in five FA Cup appearances, despite starting none of these games and playing a total of just 67 minutes.
Merson's prediction
Brighton are going to make a lot of changes but Derby have struggled against Ipswich. I think a weakened Brighton team will be too much for Derby.
You have got to get back to winning ways. I know now they are probably thinking that we do not need this cup competition. I do not think Derby do if they want to get into the play-offs. But with a place in the quarter-final if they got Watford in the semi-final of the FA Cup - who knows?
Brighton played a weakened team against West Brom and went on to win in extra-time. If they had played a half decent team in the first game they would have won that game and would not have had to play a replay. That backfired on them and now they have got another home game. Somebody is probably telling them 'have a go'.
MERSE PREDICTS: 2-0 (15/2 with Sky Bet)