Brighton v Tottenham preview: Spurs seek to avoid fourth straight loss

Tottenham will seek to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat when they travel to Brighton in Saturday's late Premier League kick-off (5.30pm).

After beating Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in August, Spurs have lost 2-1 to both Watford and Liverpool in the Premier League before losing their Champions League opener by the same scoreline at Inter Milan on Tuesday.

It's the longest losing run of Mauricio Pochettino's reign, but the Spurs boss insists that will be forgotten if they win at the Amex Stadium.

"The only way we can stop that (criticism) is winning games and if we don't win everyone is going to criticise more than now," he said/

"And you know what is going to happen when we don't win games, the first [person] responsible is me. I am so relaxed. In football something happens, the situation is that I am going to give my best until the end."

Brighton boss Chris Hughton fears his team, who start the weekend in 14th place after Monday night's comeback 2-2 draw with Southampton, could face a wounded animal after Spurs' bad run.

"When any team in the top six goes through a period, whether that's a couple of games or they lose a Champions League game, they are going to be in the spotlight a little more than we are here at Brighton," Hughton said.

"What generally happens, because of the quality they've got, they come out of that one and in a few weeks time it's somebody else's turn, so we never read too much into that."

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Team news

Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris will miss the trip and is not expected to return until next week as he continues his recovery from a thigh injury.

However, midfielder Dele Alli is back in contention after returning to training following a hamstring injury picked up on international duty.

Moussa Sissoko is also back in full training ahead of the game, while Kieran Tripper and Toby Alderweireld are expected to return after missing the midweek Champions League clash with Inter Milan due to what Pochettino described as "technical reasons".

Brighton remain without injured midfielder Pascal Gross but Florin Andone and Jose Izquierdo are available for their first appearances of the season.

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Opta stats

• Brighton have only won one of their last nine games against Tottenham in all competitions (W1 D2 L6).
• Spurs have only failed to find the net once in their previous 15 matches against Brighton in all competitions.
• Brighton have lost just one of their last nine Premier League home games - against Leicester in March.
• Tottenham are looking to avoid three consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time since November 2012.
• Spurs have only failed to score in one of their last 16 Premier League away games (0-1 vs West Brom in May).
• Brighton have gone two goals down in their last two Premier League games but avoided defeat both times. No team has ever done this in three consecutive games before.

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Paul Merson's prediction

I don't know what's happened with Tottenham. They played well against Inter Milan and then lost the game - they've probably played worse this season and won.

They are stuck in a rut and need something from this game. I don't care who you are but you cannot turn that run of form around in an instant, especially when you consider Brighton at home are a completely different prospect.

Chris Hughton must pull his hair out at the difference between his side's form at home and away, but they fought back last week when they looked out of the game at Southampton. Spurs have played well in games and still lost, after a while that takes its toll.

PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (6/1 with Sky Bet)

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