Brighton vs Leeds: team news, stats, prediction, TV channel, kick-off time

  /  autty

Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Brighton vs Leeds in the Premier League on Saturday; kick-off 5.30pm.

Team news

Brighton will have goalkeeper Robert Sanchez available again following suspension for the Premier League match against Leeds.

Sanchez was sent off late on against Newcastle before the international break, so Jason Steele deputised against Aston Villa last weekend.

Midfielder Enock Mwepu could be in contention again following a muscle strain, while forward Aaron Connolly has recovered from a heel problem.

Brighton provisional squad: Sanchez, Lamptey, Cucurella, Webster, Dunk, Duffy, Bissouma, Gross, Lallana, Moder, Trossard, Steele, Burn, Veltman, Mac Allister, March, Richards, Maupay, Locadia, Sarmiento, Mwepu, Connolly

Leeds will be boosted by the return of Raphinha and Rodrigo, who both missed last week's 2-1 defeat at Tottenham.

Raphinha has recovered from illness and Rodrigo is back in contention after a foot injury, while Jamie Shackleton is also available after missing the last two matches.

Patrick Bamford (ankle), Robin Koch and Luke Ayling (both knee) remain unavailable for first-team action, although the latter is closing in on his return after surgery and could appear for the under-23s on Monday.

Leeds provisional squad: Meslier, Llorente, Dallas, Cooper, Firpo, Struijk, Phillips, Forshaw, Klich, Harrison, Rodrigo, Raphinha, James, Gelhardt, Roberts, Klaesson, Cresswell, McCarron, Jenkins, Drameh, Greenwood.

How to follow

Brighton vs Leeds is live on Saturday Night Football on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm; kick-off 5.30pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

Last time out...

Jones Knows prediction

After four wins in their first five games, Brighton were entering conversations regarding a potential European push. However, the same old problems of last season have emerged in front of goal and now they are without a win in their last seven games - just Newcastle and Manchester United have taken fewer points in that time.

Leeds will be travelling with plenty of hope, but this has home win written all over it. Brighton have an excellent recent record against Leeds, winning eight of the last nine meetings.

The way to beat Brighton is to defend with good cohesion and don't allow them room to work their clever passing moves - as Aston Villa did brilliantly last weekend. There is absolutely no chance of Marcelo Bielsa following that pattern, which makes it's easy to see a repeat result from the two fixtures between the teams last season. Brighton won both games without conceding (2-0 and 1-0), amassing a total expected goals total of 4.6 to Leeds' 1.13 as they created lots of chances while keeping it tight up the other end.

Some of those chances are likely to fall to Tariq Lamptey, who is wildly overpriced in the player shots market with Sky Bet.

Since returning from a long lay-off, he has been playing much higher, almost as a right-winger. He had Brighton's best chance of the game last weekend at Aston Villa but his effort was beaten away by Emi Martinez, and Lamptey was responsible for two shots at goal in the last home game with Newcastle. The triangle of him, Pascal Gross and Adam Webster found some dangerous positions in the defeat at Villa but space was limited.

They'll find more here and Lamptey is a very strong wager to fire two shots on goal at 7/2 with Sky Bet.

SCORE PREDICTION: 2-0

BETTING ANGLE: Tariq Lamptey to have two or more shots (7/2 with Sky Bet)

Opta stats

Premier League Preview - Expect a 'whirlwind' impact from Rangnick at Man Utd | His objectives | Plus: Brighton, Brentford analysis

Peter Smith is joined by Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith, and football journalist Simeon Gholam to look ahead to the Premier League weekend.

PART 1 | Alan Smith discusses Ralf Rangnick's appointment as Man Utd interim boss, what he will bring to the club, and how he could help their young players kick on. Is he paving the way for Mauricio Pochettino? Alan assesses Rangnick's consultancy role, which is planned to start next summer, too.

PART 2 | Simeon Gholam breaks down Brighton's mixed start to the campaign and what they need to do to get back to winning ways against Leeds.

PART 3 | Simeon - our EFL Editor - also looks at newly-promoted Brentford, who have also had a good start followed by a frustrating period, ahead of their Super Sunday clash with Everton.

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