Roberto de Zerbi will be in charge of his first Premier League home game as Brighton boss on Saturday when Tottenham Hotspur visit the Amex Stadium.
The Italian’s first game came last weekend against Liverpool and it turned out to be a 3-3 thriller, with Leandro Trossard grabbing the headlines with a brilliant hat-trick. The draw left the Seagulls fourth on the table with 14 points from seven games.
De Zerbi will be aiming for a positive start at home against Tottenham, who are desperate to bounce back from their North London derby defeat to Arsenal.
Brighton Team News
Enock Mwepu missed the game at Liverpool due to illness and remains a doubt for Saturday. Moises Caicedo didn’t train with the team on Thursday with an unspecified problem, but Roberto de Zerbi expects the midfielder to be available for selection against Tottenham.
Meanwhile, Jakub Moder is a long-term absentee with a knee injury.
Predicted Brighton Lineup vs Tottenham (3-4-2-1)
Goalkeeper
Robert Sanchez is rated as one of the Premier League’s best sweeper-keepers, thus, making him an easy pick in goal for Brighton at the weekend.
Defence
Lining up in a 3-4-2-1 system, De Zerbi will expect his defenders to keep things solid at the back during the 90 minutes against Tottenham. Joel Veltman, Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster will all retain their places in a three-man defence in the Brighton lineup.
The trio of Veltman, Dunk and Webster cannot afford to make mistakes on and off the ball against a terrific counter-attacking Tottenham side.
Midfield
Moises Caicedo has cemented his place in the Brighton lineup with a series of impressive displays. The Ecuadorian, starting at the base of the Brighton midfield, will be tasked with breaking and intercepting Tottenham’s attacks. His presence will allow the dynamic Alexis Mac Allister to venture forward and create openings in the final third.
Solly March and Pervis Estupinan will keep their places at right and left wing-back, respectively in the Brighton lineup. March needs to concentrate more on his defensive duties, whereas Estupinan should offer more going forward while keeping Ivan Perisic quiet on the left flank.
Attack
Pascal Groß and Leandro Trossard will act as creative 10s behind the main striker Danny Welbeck in the Brighton lineup. The axis of Groß, Welbeck and Trossard can cause plenty of problems for the Tottenham defence.
Fresh from his hat-trick against Liverpool, Trossard will be the Seagulls’ main source of goals. If the fleet-footed Belgian enjoys time and space on the ball, he would singlehandedly cause menace in the visitors’ defence.
Tariq Lamptey, Adam Lallana and Kaoru Mitoma might get involved at some stage in the second half.