Albion return to Premier League action on Saturday when they take on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, kick-off 3pm.
Team news
Speaking in his press conference on Friday, Roberto De Zerbi said, "We have to see about Igor [Julio]. [Kaoru] Mitoma and [James] Milner can’t play, they’re not available. Then we have too many injuries, I have lost count! Lewis Dunk is available. Pervis Estupinan is not available for a long time. I am not a doctor and we have very good medical staff. But in terms of the time for Pervis, I don’t know.
"[Tariq] Lamptey is better. I don’t know if he can play 90 minutes, or a part of the game. But it’s good news for us because we were playing without a full-back, only Joel Veltman was available. Milner, Estupinan and Tariq didn’t play [previously].
"James Milner and Mitoma will work with us on Monday, Sunday maybe. But now we are only thinking about Nottingham. Igor has an ankle problem. I don’t know if he can play tomorrow or Thursday [he will play]. Adam Webster was injured on Monday - I think for a couple of weeks.
"Moder will be on the bench tomorrow. He can play 25 minutes maybe. Pascal Gross, Billy Gilmour, Carlos Baleba are available to play but we have to improve the physical condition of Moder because we play against Athens, Chelsea, Marseille and we need all our players."
How to follow the game
Our Live Match Centre will bring you all the news in the build-up, during the game and post-match.
You can also listen to live commentary on MyAlbion TV and there will be coverage across all our social media channels.
Player to watch
The injury of Taiwo Awoniyi is a major blow for Forest. The striker has scored ten goals and assisted two more across his last 14 Premier League appearances. Awoniyi is averaging a goal or assist every 123 minutes in the competition for Nottingham Forest, with only Stan Collymore (one every 119 mins) having a better average among players to play 10+ games for the club.
While not directly responsible for picking up the goalscoring burden, in-form Anthony Elanga will be looked upon more than ever to be a creative force. The former Manchester United man has made a good start to his career at the City Ground and scored in Forest's last outing, a 3-2 defeat to West Ham.
The Premier League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Albion
|
34 | 11 | 11 | 12 | -5 | 44 |
|
2
|
MCI
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +5 | 6 |
|
3
|
ARS
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +5 | 6 |
|
4
|
FUL
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +3 | 4 |
|
5
|
WHU
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 4 |
|
6
|
LIV
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 4 |
|
7
|
AVL
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +5 | 3 |
|
8
|
LUT
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
|
9
|
BOU
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
|
10
|
CHE
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
|
11
|
TOT
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 3 |
|
12
|
BUR
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
13
|
EVE
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
14
|
BRE
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 1 |
|
15
|
CRY
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -3 | 1 |
|
16
|
WOL
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -3 | 1 |
|
17
|
SHU
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -5 | 1 |
|
18
|
NFO
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
|
19
|
MUN
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 |
|
20
|
NEW
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 |
Stats and facts
Nottingham Forest have won their last two home league games against Brighton, having failed to win any of their previous six (D4 L2). They won 3-1 in this exact fixture last season.
Having won their first two top-flight meetings with Nottingham Forest in 1979-80, Brighton are now winless in their last eight against them in the top division (D2 L6).
Nottingham Forest have lost all four of their Premier League matches this season against teams who finished the previous season in the top-six, although all four defeats have come away from home (1-2 vs Arsenal, 2-3 vs Man Utd, 0-2 vs Man City, 0-3 vs Liverpool).
Brighton and Hove Albion have scored in their last 28 Premier League games. Only four teams have ever had a longer such run, and each won the league in at least one of the seasons those runs spanned: Arsenal (55 between May 2001-Oct 2002), Man Utd (36 between Dec 2007-Nov 2008), Man City (29 between Dec 2018-Sept 2019) and Liverpool (36 between Mar 2019-Feb 2020).
Nottingham Forest have picked up nine points in their opening five home Premier League games this season (W2 D3), five more than they had at the City Ground after five home games last season. In only one Premier League season have they gone the first six home games unbeaten, doing so in 1995-96 (12).
Brighton have both scored and conceded in their last 16 Premier League matches, the joint longest run in history along with Everton between September 2012 and January 2013. In the top-flight, the last side to have a longer run of scoring and conceding were Man Utd in 1959-60 (17 in a row).
In all competitions in 2023, Brighton have scored 90 goals in 44 games. It’s their most in a single year since 1976 (92) while it is their best average goals per game in a year (2.05) since 1955, when they scored 118 goals in 53 games (2.23 per game).
Brighton have scored 23 Premier League goals in 2023 that has seen at least one teenager involved (including Facundo Buonanotte’s assist against Sheffield United last time out), more than all other teams put together (15). In Premier League history, only Liverpool in 1998 (31) and Everton in 1999 (24) have had more in a calendar year.
No player has been involved in more goals for Brighton in all competitions this season than Simon Adingra (4 goals, 3 assists), with the 21-year-old Ivorian scoring twice and assisting twice across his last five appearances. In the Premier League, only four players are attempting more dribbles per 90 minutes than Adingra this season (6.1 – min. 500 mins played).
Match officials
Referee: Anthony Taylor.
Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn.
Fourth official: Andy Davies.
VAR: Graham Scott.
Assistant VAR: Mark Scholes.