Brighton hopes to revive its dream of qualifying for European football for the first time in its history, trying to recover from a defeat in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on Sunday and a loss to “Nottingham Forest” in the league on Wednesday. “The Seagulls” are four points behind the top seven after losing 1-3 at the City Ground. This means that since January they have not won consecutive Premier League matches and after 30 rounds have recorded 14 wins and seven draws, which corresponds to 49 points and eighth position in the table. Today, Lallana, Lamptey, Sarmiento, and Ferguson, who has an ankle injury, will not be able to play.
However, the team from the Midlands will be desperate to strike a blow to Brighton’s European ambitions, especially after they moved to a safe distance from the relegation zone by defeating Crystal Palace 2-0 on Tuesday. This result left Julen Lopetegui’s team with 37 points, which was enough to stay in the Premier League for 16 of the last 19 campaigns. The head coach insists that his team is far from safe, saying they still need to “get more points” in the remaining five matches. After 33 rounds, the visitors have ten wins and seven draws, putting them in 13th position. Kut, Traore, Kalajdzic, and Chikwue cannot help their team due to a knee injury.