Brighton vs Crystal Palace: Premier League preview, team news, stats, predictions, kick-off time, live on Sky

Enock Mwepu to be sidelined for Brighton; James Tomkins joins Palace injury list; follow Brighton vs Crystal Palace live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 7pm on Friday night; kick-off 8pm; watch free highlights shortly after full time on Sky Sports website and app

Friday 14 January 2022 21:02, UK

Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Brighton vs Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Friday Night Football; kick-off 8pm.

Team news

Brighton midfielder Enock Mwepu will miss Friday's Premier League game against Crystal Palace due to a hamstring injury suffered in last weekend's FA Cup win at West Brom.

Centre-back Adam Webster is fit to return after sitting out at The Hawthorns as a precaution, while Seagulls midfielder Moises Caicedo could make his top-flight debut having been recalled from a loan spell at Belgian club Beerschot.

Captain Lewis Dunk (knee), Mali midfielder Yves Bissouma (international duty) and back-up goalkeeper Jason Steele (back) remain absent for Albion.

Crystal Palace will be without five experienced players, with defender James Tomkins the latest on the injured list.

Tomkins is unavailable for a "couple of weeks" due to an unspecified injury according to boss Patrick Vieira, who was already missing James McArthur with a hamstring issue and the trio of Cheikhou Kouyate, Jordan Ayew and Wilfried Zaha due to their Africa Cup of Nations commitments.

First-choice goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, who dislocated a finger last month, sat out last weekend's 2-1 win at Millwall in the FA Cup but is expected to return.

Jones Knows prediction...

An unorthodox derby? Yes. But a very watchable one involving two teams that like to play progressive, attacking football.

Brighton's exemplary defensive record in terms of expected goals against, added to Palace's inability to pick up results on the road, means I'm happy to side with the home team to win a tight encounter. Patrick Vieira's team only have one win from their nine away days this season and that, amazingly, came at Manchester City - a result that remains City's only home defeat of the season.

I've gone fishing elsewhere than the traditional markets for a betting angle. Should the tallest player in the Premier League, who scored a header in his last Premier League game, really be 28/1 to score another header? Well, that's the reality of the odds on Dan Burn's chances of scoring one against Palace, who have conceded 11 goals from set pieces this season (excluding penalties) - only Leicester (12) have conceded more.

Burn has started the last five games for Graham Potter at centre-back and his obvious aerial threat is a weapon for Brighton to utilise in a game where they should gain plenty of set-piece situations. Burn strides into the match not only with a goal to his name in his last Premier League appearance, but also having won 14 aerial duels in the FA Cup clash with West Brom at the weekend. No player has won more in a single game across the Premier League and FA Cup this season.

SCORE PREDICTION: 2-1

BETTING ANGLE: Dan Burn to score a header (28/1 with Sky Bet)

How to follow

Brighton vs Crystal Palace will be shown live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 7pm; kick-off 8pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

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Last time out..

Opta stats

Brighton are winless in their last five Premier League games against Crystal Palace, alternating between a draw (3) and a defeat (2) each time.
Crystal Palace have won four of their last seven away league games against Brighton (D1 L2), including each of the last two - they've never won three in a row on the road against the Seagulls before.
Each of the last three Premier League meetings between Brighton and Crystal Palace has seen a result altering goal scored in the 90th minute, with the Seagulls earning two draws and the Eagles one win thanks to those strikes. No fixture in Premier League history has seen a 90th minute goal that changed the result of the match in four consecutive games before.
Crystal Palace have never won a Premier League game on a Friday, drawing three and losing four of their seven such games.
After an 11-game winless run in the Premier League, Brighton have now won two of their last three in the competition (D1). The Seagulls have scored as many goals in their last three league games as they had in their previous 10 combined (6).
Crystal Palace have won just one of their last 11 Premier League away games (D3 L7), beating Man City 2-0 in October. Indeed, the Eagles have lost each of their last three league games on the road without scoring a single goal.
Just 26% of Crystal Palace's Premier League points have been won in away games this season (6/23), the lowest ratio of any side in the competition this term.

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