Two sides aiming to end torrid spells of form in the Premier League will lock horns on Friday as Burnley make the long journey to the South Coast to take on Brighton & Hove Albion.
Both sides fell to defeat to big six sides last time out, with Brighton losing to Tottenham Hotspur while Burnley were no match for an inspired Chelsea at Turf Moor.
Match preview
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Whether or not Brighton's equaliser against Tottenham should have stood is another talking point entirely, but Tariq Lamptey's first goal at senior level ultimately paled into insignificance as the Seagulls fell to defeat yet again in the capital.
Gareth Bale won the game with his highly-anticipated first goal for Spurs since making his return, with another controversially-awarded penalty seeing Harry Kane continue his prolific start to the season before Lamptey levelled for Brighton, who are now winless in six in all competitions.
Graham Potter's men have not tasted success in a top-flight game since their 3-0 win over Newcastle United in September - which remains their solitary top-flight victory of the season - but that is not to say that Brighton have simply gone down without a fight in the opening stages of the campaign.
Such a statement would be wholly inaccurate, but the scoreline at the top of the screen is what counts at the end of the day and Brighton must turn their fortunes around lest they risk becoming early contenders to finish below the dotted line, and the Seagulls can feel optimistic about their chances of doing so against a Burnley side enduring an equally woeful run of form.
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The normally reliable defence of Burnley have become a shadow of their former selves since the season began, with Chelsea's attacking stars combining effectively to put three past the Clarets on their own turf on Halloween.
Hakim Ziyech, Kurt Zouma and Timo Werner were all on target as Burnley lost to London opposition for the second week running at Turf Moor, and as is the case with Friday's opponents Brighton, Burnley have now gone six games without a win in all competitions.
Furthermore, that winless run has seen Burnley notch up only one goal - scored by Ashley Westwood in their 3-1 defeat to Newcastle United - with the experienced strike partnership of Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood failing to find their shooting boots despite banking 20 league goals between them last season.
Dyche knows what it takes to perform at this level, but Burnley's five-year stay in the big time could be under serious threat unless they find a way to stop the goals leaking in and pick up that elusive first win of the season as soon as possible.
In fairness, the Clarets have been handed a difficult start to the season with clashes against Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City and Leicester City, but Burnley are now facing a Brighton side who they have only lost to once in their previous nine matches - although that defeat was in their most recent meeting with the Seagulls back in July.
Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form: WLLDDL
Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions): LLLDDL
Burnley Premier League form: LLLDLL
Burnley form (all competitions): LLLDLL
Team News
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Fears arose over the effervescent Lamptey after the full-back was forced off through injury against Spurs, but Potter revealed that the youngster was simply suffering from cramp and should be fine for Friday.
Solly March was another casualty of the defeat in North London with an ankle injury and is a much greater doubt for the visit of Burnley, meaning that Bernardo may be given a run-out on the left-hand side.
Robert Sanchez was a surprise inclusion over Mat Ryan in goal and the 22-year-old will look to keep his place here, while Neal Maupay - allegedly left out at the weekend due to concerns over his attitude - may come back to spearhead the Brighton attack.
Burnley have no fresh injury concerns from their loss to Chelsea, and Dyche has been handed a boost with the returns of Ben Mee and Phil Bardsley - both of whom are in contention to play a part here.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson was not involved against Chelsea due to a slight calf issue and remains a doubt here, and should the Iceland international miss out again, Robbie Brady will hope to be given the chance to prove himself.
Wood boasts three goals in this fixture and will want to get his confidence back with another one here, although both he and Barnes could be under threat from Jay Rodriguez and Matej Vydra.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Webster, Veltman, Burn; Lamptey, Bissouma, White, Bernardo; Lallana, Trossard; Maupay
Burnley possible starting lineup:
Pope; Lowton, Long, Tarkowski, Taylor; McNeil, Westwood, Brownhill, Brady; Wood, Rodriguez
We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Burnley
Unlike Brighton - who actually have a top-flight win to their name this season - Burnley are still chasing their first three points of the campaign but will no doubt feel that their trip to the South Coast represents their best chance of victory so far. That being said, the Clarets just cannot seem to find the back of the net and their barren run in front of goal looks set to continue against an imperious Brighton backline, so we are backing the Seagulls to scrape a slender victory on Friday.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:dataVideo prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Brighton & Hove Albion win with a probability of 41.86%. A win for Burnley had a probability of 29.91% and a draw had a probability of 28.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Brighton & Hove Albion win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.88%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.29%) and 2-0 (8.13%). The likeliest Burnley win was 0-1 (10.41%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.14%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 10.2% likelihood.
