Brighton v Spurs - Preview from the Press Box

We travel to Brighton on Saturday, which means a call into Andy Naylor, Chief Sports Reporter and the man at the Amex Stadium for the Brighton Argus for our latest 'Preview from the Press Box'.

Brighton's form so far

Andy: "Like most clubs new to the division, Brighton are much stronger playing at home than away. That was certainly the case last season. If I look at the games so far, they beat Manchester United 3-2 and came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Fulham. They played well that day but missed a penalty and gave a soft goal away. In terms of away, they played poorly at Watford and lost, actually played well at Anfield where they lost narrowly and were poor again in the first half at Southampton on Monday night, but showed a lot of character to again come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2. They are certainly a tougher proposition at the Amex."

This game

Andy: "It's an intriguing game. You always look at these matches against the top six and know they will be difficult. However, Brighton have now beaten United twice at home, beat Arsenal and drew with Spurs towards the end of last season. Then you look at Spurs coming into the game on the back of three straight defeats - albeit including Liverpool and Inter - but nevertheless, three straight defeats. So...a club like Brighton can always lose against a top six team home or away, but you'd rather be playing Spurs after three straight defeats than three straight wins!"

Brighton's key man

Andy: "Based on what's happened so far this season, it has to be Glenn Murray. He continues to defy his years. He's coming up to 35 but he's scored four times already. He was the man on the spot to equalise against Southampton. It was one of his quieter games but when it came to the crunch and you have a penalty to win a point on the stroke of full-time, he stepped up and stuck it away. He still has a knack of making life uncomfortable for central defenders, he's quite physical, a bit of a throw back to that traditional number nine. He's injury-free, fit and firing."

Key area

Andy: "I think midfield is the key area. Pascal Gross, who scored last season and was very influential in the number 10 role, goals and assists, missed the draw at Southampton with an ankle injury and as far as I'm aware, is unlikely to be in involved. The interesting thing will be how Chris Hughton copes with that. At Southampton, Yves Bissouma, Mali international, formed a midfield three with Dale Stephens and Davy Propper. Usually, the system is 4-4-1-1 with Gross the 10. There are alternatives, but not a like-for-like alternative. It will be interesting to see what they do in that area."

Prediction

Andy: "As I said, it's intriguing with Brighton's home form and Spurs having three defeats on the trot, but I'll sit on the fence a bit and say a 1-1 draw wouldn't surprise me."