Voices on the game... Brighton

Jose Mourinho, Graham Potter, Lucas, Lewis Dunk and BT Sport presenter Jules Breach all feature in our latest 'voices on the game' ahead of our Boxing Day clash against Brighton.

Jules Breach

Presenter - BT Sport, Premier League, Optus Sport, Football Ramble
Brighton fan

"Brighton's form isn't really reflected in their results at the moment. Ever since the win over Spurs - sorry to remind you all of that - it's been a bit up and down. However, the performances have been better than the results. If you look at the last four matches, we've only lost one, last weekend against Sheffield United, who completely deserved their win. In terms of performances, we've all been impressed with what we've seen and it's slightly disappointing that the results haven't really reflected that. Palace (1-1 on 16 December) was a good example. We played so well there, got ahead but Palace had a 15-minute spell and managed to equalise with a moment of magic from Zaha. There have been a couple of games we haven't been able to see out and that's the only worry. Otherwise, our performances have been great and we're all really happy with Graham Potter.

"Looking at this game, I think this is a different Spurs from the team we faced in October. The players have shown they are capable of putting together impressive performances. I'm expecting Graham Potter to set up the same as he did for the home game. One of the notable things he did against Sheffield United, when the game wasn't going our way, was put on two more strikers in the second half, he took off Trossard and Gross and put on Murray and Connolly. That's what you can expect from Brighton this season - we're going out and trying to win every game. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't. I think we'll give it a real go on Boxing Day."

Jose Mourinho

Head Coach, Tottenham Hotspur

"Brighton are a good team, a team that change very frequently their system, their model of play, they play five at the back, they play with 4-4-2 in a diamond, they play 4-2-3-1, they play 4-3-3, they play 4-3-2-1 without wingers wide, they play in almost every possible tactical system. The most important thing is their quality. They have good players, strong players. They have lots of the guys adapted to what football is in England, powerful, tall defenders and in attack, guys with great mobility, guys with speed. It’s a good team, a very good team and we felt that when we lost there.”

Graham Potter

Head Coach, Brighton

“Jose Mourinho is a top manager and it’s great to have him back in the Premier League. I have followed his career from the time he arrived in England from Porto. It was inspirational the way he conducted himself and since then he’s had an amazing career. He’s someone I am really looking forward to meeting. The manager has changed, but they have still got very good players, who were Champions League finalists not so long ago. Obviously, they had a setback against Chelsea, but their results since Mourinho came in have been impressive. It will be a tough game for us for sure."

Lucas Moura

Forward, Tottenham Hotspur

"We need to fight more. We know that what we did against Brighton earlier in the season was not good enough. For sure, it will be a tough game. They have good players and it is not easy to play against them. They are very strong players and are very good in the air. In the away game, it was tough there. We didn’t see enough of the ball. But we have the quality in the squad to get a result. Keeping the ball on the ground, play more and to run in behind them because we have very quick players. We have to dominate and control the game. We can do much better and we can get the win."

Lewis Dunk

Captain, central defender, Brighton

“Sheffield United was obviously disappointing. They had a game plan and were tough to break down, and we didn’t perform well enough, but the good thing about this time of year is that there’s always another game quickly to try and put things right. We have to react positively to Saturday. This season I think our away performances have been better than our home ones, and we have to keep that going. We beat Spurs 3-0 and we have since won at Arsenal, so we’ve proved we can beat the big clubs. Let’s hope we do it again on Thursday.”

Our Boxing Day clash against Brighton is being televised by Amazon Prime...