Preview: Brighton & Hove Albion vs Crystal Palace - prediction, team news, lineups

Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace, separated by just two points in the Premier League, will meet at the Amex Stadium on Sunday afternoon for the second M23 derby of the season. 

Both sides are comfortably clear of the relegation zone, but each will be desperate to build momentum as they look to keep their fading European ambitions alive. 

Match preview

Finishing eighth in the 2024-25 campaign and narrowly missing out on European football, Fabian Hurzeler and his Brighton side would have been hoping to improve upon last season's performances but have been let down with inconsistent form throughout the season. 

After 24 Premier League games, the Seagulls find themselves in 13th with 31 points after recording seven wins, 10 draws and seven defeats. 

That inconsistency has carried into the New Year, with Brighton managing just one league victory in January, a month dominated by stalemates.

In fact, their 10 draws this season are the highest total in the division, highlighting their ongoing struggle to turn competitive performances into victories.

Their latest draw was particularly painful, as a 97th-minute equaliser from Everton’s Beto denied Brighton all three points in dramatic fashion, making Sunday's hosts even more desperate to return to winning ways. 

With that said, should Brighton & Hove Albion earn their eighth win of the campaign, they could move as high as ninth and just about keep their European dream alive as the business end of the season draws closer. 

© Iconsport / PA Images

Crystal Palace, meanwhile, travel to the south coast in worrying form that has halted any progress they seemed to make last season.

Oliver Glasner’s side have slid down the table in recent months and now find themselves closer to the relegation zone than the European places.

The loss of captain Marc Guéhi, along with ongoing speculation surrounding Glasner’s future, appears to have disrupted Palace’s on-field performances.

By the time the weekend clash comes around, it will have been over two months since Crystal Palace tasted victory in the Premier League. 

In that time, Palace have drawn twice and lost five Premier League matches, while also suffering a shocking FA Cup exit at the hands of Macclesfield, a side that were 117 places below them in the football pyramid at the time. 

Last time out, Crystal Palace came from behind to earn a point away at Nottingham Forest, despite having an extra man for the second half of the match. 

The point was the 29th Glasner's team had earned this season, meaning they come into Sunday's clash in 15th place and just nine points above the dreaded drop zone. 

The pair meet for the second time this season, with the first encounter ending 0-0.

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:

Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):

Crystal Palace Premier League form:

Crystal Palace form (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago / Action Plus

Brighton appear to have emerged from their most recent fixture without any fresh injury concerns, giving Hurzeler the luxury of naming an unchanged starting XI.

However, long-term absentees Solly March, Adam Webster and Stefanos Tzimas remain sidelined, while Diego Gomez is also expected to miss out, though a return is believed to be close.

Ferdi Kadioglu and Joel Veltman are expected to battle it out for a start at right-back, we expect the latter to get the nod on Sunday. 

Should James Milner feature, he will equal the record for most Premier League appearances after making his debut 24 years ago.  

As for Crystal Palace, they have also come away from their last clash with no additional injury and fitness concerns, although Glasner may be tempted to change things up with his side in such bad form. 

Eddie Nketiah was believed to be close to a move away during the transfer window, but that deal was put to a stop after he picked up an injury, the same injury keeps him out of this fixture. 

Daichi Kamada and Cheick Doucoure are also expected to miss out through muscle and knee injuries respectively. 

After picking up a red card in the Chelsea defeat, Adam Wharton has now served his suspension and should come straight back into the starting XI.

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:

Verbruggen; Veltman, van Hecke, Dunk, De Cuyper; Ayari, Baleba, Gross; Rutter, Welbeck, Mitoma

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:

Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Riad; Munoz, Hughes, Wharton, Mitchell; I. Sarr, Pino, Johnson

We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Crystal Palace

With both sides further down the table than they would have been hoping for at this stage of the season, both will be hoping for three points to kick-start their campaign. We expect the M23 derby to be closely fought with the hosts managing to take three points. 

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.