Off the back of a brilliant January window, the Cherries now have a very difficult task on Saturday as they travel to an on-form Brighton side, who are currently 6th in the premier league. Despite the only first team activity for Brighton being the departure of Leandro Trossard, while Bournemouth spent £48 million this month, Brighton are still favourites for this match.
The Albion have plenty of momentum at the moment after a thoroughly entertaining 4th round tie against Liverpool, which was won by some late magic courtesy of Kauro Mitoma. The Seagulls will look to continue their fantastic run in their push for European football.
Previously, Brighton have struggled against teams fighting relegation and Roberto De Zerbi will look to change this; his style of play should be able to expose those who play a low block. However, expect Bournemouth to play a more expansive style, which could play into Brighton’s hands by opening up more gaps, or alternatively attacking Brighton in such a way that leads to them taking the points back home.
Bournemouth had the week off last week, having been embarrassed by Burnley and conceding 4 goals due to lots of mistakes playing out from the back.
However, their last game against Nottingham Forest was very positive. Whilst they failed to win against Forest, Dango Outarra impressed on debut as well as Bournemouth playing good football and defending well, which has been all too absent this season.
Bournemouth are in rotten form and have slipped down to 18th in the table, and they have collected just one point since the World Cup began. This will be a key game for the Cherries in their quest for survival in the premier league.
Bournemouth have many pleasant memories at the AMEX, including a 5-0 victory in Chris Hughton’s final season at the club. Bournemouth also won at the Vitality in their most recent fixture, however, just seven of the players in those squads are still at the club as players.
Team News
Brighton
Alexis Mac Allister will miss out after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Leicester, which could mean Moises Caicedo will reappear in a match for the first time since his very controversial Instagram post.
De Zerbi will also have to deal with the fresh injury concern of Evan Fergurson following a horror tackle from Fabinho in the FA cup.
Levi Colwill and Adam Lallana are also expected to miss out as well due to muscle injuries, whilst Jakub Moder’s ACL keeps him out of action until February.
New recruit Facunado Buanotte will also miss out after a head injury playing for an Argentina youth side, and it’s expected that it will still be too early for new signing Yasin Ayari to make the squad.
Bournemouth
Following a very exciting January transfer window, Bournemouth could still be without some key players for Saturday’s clash on the South coast. Dom Solanke, Phillip Billing and Marcus Tavernier are all doubts, and Saturday may be a few days too early for them to return to match fitness.
Junior Stanislas and Ryan Fredericks are also expected to miss out and Lewis Cook is due to be out until February, so he won’t make the cut.
Expected lineup
Brighton
Sanchez
Lamptey Dunk Webster Estupinan
Caicedo Gilmour
March Gross Mitoma
Welbeck
Bournemouth
Neto
Smith Zabarnyi Kelly Zemura
Outarra Lerma Rothwell Anthony
Semenyo Traore
Key Players
Brighton – Kauro Mitoma
The Japanese winger has been one of the finds of the season and has excelled under De Zerbi. He has scored four goals since the Italian took over and is third on the list for most successful dribbles in the league, which could be a very favourable match up for Brighton.
He will most likely be against Adam Smith who is doing very well in one on one situations this season with a 60% success rate. However, the 31 year old is yet to face Mitoma.
Mitoma’s burning pace can allow him to get him in behind and whilst Smith is a good tackler of the ball he won’t be able to compete if the ball goes in behind.
Despite it being his first season in a top flight league, Mitoma has thoroughly impressed in the first half of the season, and his ability to beat a man, his pace and end product has meant Brighton find themselves with one of the best wingers in the league and in red hot form he will certainly be looking forward to the weekend.
Bournemouth – Dango Ouatarra
he has played just one premier league game so far this season and it was in their most recent game against Nottingham Forest where he looked utterly brilliant. He is a fast, dynamic winger with plenty of quality and picked up an assist against Forest. Given the perilous position that Bournemouth find themselves in, Outarra had to work hard and his debut looked very promising.
He was quick, he was clever and clearly has a very good end product as his pass to Jaidon Anthony was weighted perfectly. Playing on the same wing as Mitoma and Pervis Estupinan, the Burkina Faso international will need to be attentive in his defensive work.
However, the attacking nature of Brighton’s left hand side pairing could leave space in behind for Outarra, as well as create gaps in the back four, which could be exploited by Outarra’s quality out on the right wing. With over key pass per game in French football this year, Ouatarra could expose the few weaknesses in Brighton’s backline.
Whilst he has played very little Premier League football, he was very good for Lorient, scoring six goals and getting five assists in 18 games, and this will give Bournemouth fans plenty to be excited about. He could be the man to keep the Cherries in the Premier League as well as take the points back to the Vitality.
Match details
Brighton are the hosts and the game will take place at the American Express community Stadium.
What time is kick off?
The game will kick off at 15:00 GMT.
How can I watch?
Due to it being a 3:00 it won’t be on Tv in the UK however highlights are available on the Brighton youtube and on Sky Sports.