11/20Newcastle (4-3-3): Martin Dúbravka; Valentino Livramento; Emil Krafth; Dan Burn; Lewis Hall; Sean Longstaff; Bruno Guimarães; Elliot Anderson; Jacob Murphy; Alexander Isak; Anthony Gordon;
Brighton (4-2-3-1): Bart Verbruggen; Joël Veltman; Adam Webster; Lewis Dunk; Igor Júlio; Pascal Groß; Billy Gilmour; Facundo Buonanotte; Julio Enciso; Simon Adingra; Danny Welbeck;
Newcastle have already established control of sixth place in the English Premier League, but why not take aim at fifth-placed Tottenham, who are in desperate form and just four points ahead. The Magpies face a home game at Brighton today. The Seagulls have been one of the disappointments this season, although they still have a real chance of finishing in the Top 10.
Late in the season Newcastle are doing great. For the last seven games the team lost only to Crystal Palace and did not beat Everton at home. Last week, the Black and Whites created countless chances to score against the struggling Burnley to survive and the 4-1 success seemed to be the least the Wine Reds could get away with. A week earlier, Sheffield United were beaten 5-1.
Brighton have performed terribly in the new year. Last Sunday, however, the Seagulls played a rare solid defensive game and their pressing in attack paid off late in the game when Joao Pedro first missed from the penalty, but scored the rebound for the 1-0 win over Aston Villa. The win was Brighton’s first in the league since March 10.
At the beginning of September, Brighton won 3-1 at home from the rivalry, but today I don’t think that as an away team can even fight for the point. With a more relaxed schedule and a few less injuries, Newcastle are playing the football they are capable of. The Magpies are the fourth best home side in the league and I have no hesitation in them winning today.
There haven’t been many clean sheets for Newcastle this season, but in early April we saw consecutive ones against Fulham and Tottenham. At home, the Magpies haven’t conceded a goal in 44% of games, which isn’t a bad achievement considering the high league scoring rate this season. Against Aston Villa we saw a rare good performance from Brighton recently, but I don’t think it can be repeated. Before this game, the Seagulls had only scored against Burnley for five consecutive games.