Direct duel for Europe!
Success is known to arouse desire. Especially smaller clubs often have to face the problem of important personalities accepting new and usually higher-paying challenges.
The surprise team of the current season from Brighton also had to make this experience a few months ago. Successful coach Graham Potter was bought out of his current contract by Chelsea FC, so that the football coach pulled up stakes with immediate effect and was replaced by Roberto de Zerbi.
The Seagulls now face the same fate with the Italian, as the 43-year-old has also done a good job so far and is therefore on many notepads of absolute top teams. Since de Zerbi has an exit clause that allows him to change clubs for a fixed transfer fee, a departure in the summer does not seem out of the question.
Before that, however, the ex-professional wants to lead his club to Europe at best. Ahead of Brighton’s upcoming encounter with Brentford, however, the prognosis for international participation is primarily linked to the southerners continuing to score consistently well in the closing stages.
The Blue and Whites could now take a big step towards a top-7 finish this weekend as part of Matchday 29 in the Premier League, with the Bees from London coming to the Amex Stadium as a direct rival.
Currently, the two teams are evenly matched on points in the table, although the home side have played two matches less. Nevertheless, it is quite surprising that odds in the range of 1.66 are offered for a home win between Brighton and Brentford.
Brighton – Statistics & current form
Without a doubt, Brighton & Hove Albion is one of the most positive discoveries of the current season. With twelve wins already this season – the same number as Liverpool or Newcastle – the Seagulls are currently in a respectable seventh place in the table and thus have immediate access to the European Cup ranks.
Even the top four are within sight, after all, the southerners still have two or even three catch-up games up their sleeve compared to all their direct rivals, which could even push them in the direction of the top division.
Brighton convince on several levels
The Blue and Whites’ outstanding run of form so far this season can’t necessarily be put down to one particular strength. Brighton play a very attractive, possession-oriented and courageous attacking football, but still manage to keep the right balance between attack and defence and have already been able to score against the top teams.
Their home record of seven wins from 13 matches is just as good as their record away from home, although it has to be said that the Seagulls have lost less often away from home than at home. Nevertheless, four of the last five PL home games were won by the de-Zerbi team. In all four victories, the clean sheet was also maintained.
Few other teams concede fewer goals at home
The defensive work of the seventh-placed team in the table deserves special mention. Only eleven goals conceded in the aforementioned 13 home games. Only Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle conceded fewer goals at home.
Furthermore, because a bet on the under 2.5 would have gone through in seven of the 13 cases or in three of the most recent four home games, we are not averse to considering the odds for a maximum of two goals in normal time between Brighton and Brentford this time either. Optionally, it would be conceivable to bet on a maximum of one of the two teams scoring. Such an approach would even have paid off in nine home matches and in the last four home matches.
Last matches played by Brighton:
FA Cup
19/03/2023 – Brighton 5 – 0 Grimsby
Premier League
16/03/2023 – Brighton 1 – 0 Crystal Palace
11/03/2023 – Leeds 2 – 2 Brighton
04/03/2023 – Brighton 4 – 0 West Ham
FA Cup
01/03/2023 – Stoke 0 – 1 Brighton
Brentford – Statistics & current form
If we called Brighton a surprise team in the English top flight, this is equally true for Brentford. Many pundits even saw the Bees as relegation candidates in the “darned” second year after promotion, but the kickers from London are playing a very consistent season so far and need not worry about staying in the league at all considering they are 18 points ahead of the first relegation place.
Instead, the capital city side will be hoping to beat the many prominent clubs from the top half of the table and keep their chances of reaching Europe alive. To express that very lofty goal, it would help coach Thomas Frank’s side enormously to take something tangible away from the Amex Stadium at the weekend.
Brentford are extremely hard to beat
The task is by no means hopeless, especially as the Bees have only lost one of their last 15 Premier League matches (7 wins, 7 draws). In total, the Red and Whites have only lost five times in the 2022/23 season. Only leaders Arsenal, reigning champions Manchester City and Newcastle have suffered fewer defeats.
The draw kings of the league (12 draws) are therefore quite a dangerous opponent, which is why you can also find the combined odds for the X2 & Under 3.5 in our top tip table for the Brighton vs. Brentford match.
The fact that the Bees have won three of their last six Premier League matches and have conceded only three (!) goals in the aforementioned period despite matches at Arsenal (1:1) or Manchester City (2:1) also gives cause for hope. Five times in a row the Under 2.5 would have been crowned with success. Our first approach therefore remains the Brighton vs. Brentford prediction for rather few goals on Saturday afternoon
Last games of Brentford:
Premier League
18/03/2023 – Brentford 1 – 1 Leicester
16/03/2023 – Southampton 0 – 2 Brentford
11/03/2023 – Everton 1 – 0 Brentford
07/03/2023 – Brentford 3 – 2 Fulham
18/02/2023 – Brentford 1 – 1 Crystal Palace
Brighton – Brentford Direct Comparison / H2H Balance
For only the fourth time, Brighton and Brentford face each other in England’s top flight this weekend. The Seagulls have won two of the previous matches. The Bees’ only victory, however, came in the first leg, when the Frank team won 2-0 in front of their home crowd. Incidentally, across all competitions, a bet on the under 2.5 would have gone through in seven of the last ten must-win duels.
Brighton – Brentford Tip
Both Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford Football Club are playing outstanding seasons by their standards so far. With 42 points each, the teams are currently in 7th and 8th place. Brighton have only conceded seven defeats so far, the Bees even have only five defeats in 27 matches. This is one of the reasons why we are not betting on the three-way market in the Brighton vs Brentford clash.
It is relatively obvious, however, that the more appealing value can be found with a good result in favour of the visitors. Frank’s side are very clearly underdogs, which is somewhat surprising given that they have only lost one of their last 15 Premier League games. Apart from that, it should be noted that the Seagulls have suffered five of their seven defeats this season against teams from London. Brentford are also known to be a capital club.
With the de-Zerbi eleven’s recent very good home performances, it is nevertheless a little too daring for us to place a bet exclusively in the direction of the red and whites, so we have opted to play the betting odds on the under 2.5 between Brighton and Brentford. These peak at 2.10 and are worth a stake of four units to us.
Brentford have conceded just three goals in their last six away games. Brighton have one of the best home defences in the league with only eleven goals conceded. Seven of the past ten head-to-head encounters have also seen a maximum of two goals, which is why we actually believe in a low-scoring encounter at the Amex Stadium.
