Brighton will host Gary O’Neil’s Wolves at the AMEX Stadium in the third round of the Carabao Cup after a goalless draw at home to Ipswich last time out.
Fabian Hurzeler has enjoyed a successful start to his Premier League debut season with an unbeaten start from four, including a home victory against Man United and a point away at Arsenal.
O’Neil leads his squad to the AMEX Stadium after a home defeat to Newcastle last weekend that now sees them sat in 18th place and remain winless from four Premier League.
Wolves progressed through from round two after beating Burnley 2-0 at Molineux thanks to a Goncalo Guedes brace who could feature tonight after O’Neil claimed he would make wholesale changes to his starting 11.
As for recent previous meetings between the two, Brighton have had the major upper hand, however the last clash came in the FA Cup in February this year where Wolves won 1-0 at Molineux.
Team News
Brighton
The Seagulls are expected to remain without Joao Pedro’s services as he missed their last match, with summer singing Georginio Rutter expected to be handed his second start on the south coast.
Fellow new recruits Matt O’Riley and Mats Wieffer will be unavailable as they proceed with their recoveries; veteran James Milner is expected to be back involved which is good news for the hosts bearing in mind their midfield worries.
Regarding the engine room, the home side have become light in that department due to summer departures and unfortunate injuries, meaning key player Carlos Baleba could be rested to make sure he is fit for their Premier League match against Nottingham Forest on the weekend.
Wolves
Wolves boss O’Neil said this week he would make wholesale changes to his side that were beaten by Newcastle last Sunday as he continues to experiment with his new arrivals and desired systems.
The visitors could be without Rayan Ait-Nouri and Andre after they were both forced off with knocks at Molineux last time out.
Tommy Doyle and Guedes will both be pushing for starts as well as new signing Carlos Forbs, with his pace potentially causing problems on the break.
Predicted Lineups
Brighton
Verbruggen; Lamptey, Webster, Igor, Samuels; Weir, Ayari; Peupion, Enciso, Adingra; Rutter
Wolves
Sa; Lima, Bueno, Dawson, Doherty; Doyle, Lemina; Hwang, Sarabia, Bellegarde; Guedes
Key Players
Brigton - Simon Adingra
The Ivorian has only started one match this season and that came in this competition last time out against Crawley Town, Adingra scored as his side won 4-0.
As for the league, the winger was brought on at half-time on the opening day against Everton and scored, as well as a last-minute assist against Man United in their second game, all this despite starting just one game.
Adingra will cause problems for the Wolves defence, no Brighton player has created more goal actions per 90 minutes than Adingra this season.
He also holds the best record amongst Brighton players for best goal difference when on the pitch, the team has scored the most goals - minus goals against - when Adingra is on the pitch.
An interesting factor in the game will be what side of the pitch he applies his trade, he could come up against a young Pedro Lima on Wolves’ right side of defence who will prove hard to beat physically and he may struggle to use his pace against Lima.
However if Adingra plays on the right side, Doherty will be easily beaten for pace and trickery, but will ask different questions for the winger to solve.
Wolves - Goncalo Guedes
The Portuguese wide-man has been outcasted since his arrival in 2022 thanks to an underwhelming start to his career in Wolverhampton that saw him loaned out in two different deals.
However this season is the first under O’Neil and he has a place to play in the Englishman’s squad if he continues to show the fight and hunger to play.
Guedes scored the only goals of the game against Burnley in the previous round and showed his quality in both finishes, for all four league games on the other hand, he has only managed two appearances from the bench.
Wolves have scored half of their goals from counter-attacks so far this season - including one of Guedes’ against Burnley - which bodes well for the away side as they are expected to play a low block and attempt to punish Brighton on the break, which Guedes can contribute to.
It is a chance for the winger to ask O’Neil the question of whether or not he considers him for their next Premier League match away at Aston Villa on Saturday.
Match Details
Where is the game being played?
The game will take place at the AMEX Stadium in Brighton.
What time is kick-off?
19:45 BST on Wednesday 18th September.
Where can I watch?
It will be broadcasted on Sky Sports plus for viewers in the UK.
