Saturday, September 19, 2020

New on Sports Illustrated: Brighton & Hove Albion-Newcastle United Preview

Brighton and Hove Albion boss Graham Potter lauded Newcastle United's transfer business as his side prepare to face the Magpies.

The Seagulls got their season started with a defeat against Chelsea, while Newcastle overcame West Ham 2-0, with new signings Callum Wilson and Jeff Hendrick scoring on their debuts.

Ahead of Sunday's clash at St James' Park, Potter acknowledged Brighton are going up against a side who have added real quality to their ranks.

"Impressive, the business they have done. They have added to the squad and they will be really strong," he told a news conference. "They have players like Andy Carroll and Jonjo Shelvey who have been there a while, and they have added quality to it too."

One of Brighton's new additions – Adam Lallana – went off injured against Chelsea, but Potter is hopeful on having the former Liverpool man available.

"The initial thoughts were that it wasn't too bad, and we are delighted to have him. We will make the decision late on. He has got a chance though, yes," Potter said.

Miguel Almiron was only used as a late substitute by Bruce against West Ham, but the Newcastle boss insisted it was a purely tactical decision.

"I left him out – I think you all know what I think of Almiron, he's a manager's delight I made a call on Saturday because we needed to be able to match West Ham physically, otherwise the game might have been out of sight for us," Bruce told reporters. "We were winning and we brought him on and he might have even scored a couple of goals on Saturday, so Miggy will be fine."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brighton and Hove Albion – Tariq Lamptey

Full-back Lamptey was a real bright spark for Brighton against Chelsea. He had had the joint-most chances created, the joint-most open play crosses and the joint-highest number of tackles and interceptions among the Seagulls' players.

Newcastle United - Ryan Fraser

After not featuring against West Ham, Newcastle new boy Fraser scored on his debut in the EFL Cup win over Blackburn Rovers. Whether he starts or comes on from the bench, the tricky Scotland international is sure to add another dimension to the hosts' play.

KEY OPTA FACTS

• Newcastle are without a win in all six of their previous Premier League meetings with Brighton, failing to score at all in five of those games.

• Brighton have only lost one of their last six league visits to Newcastle, keeping a clean sheet in all three of their games at St. James' Park in the Premier League.

• Following their 2-0 win at West Ham on the opening day, Newcastle are looking to start a league season with consecutive victories for the first time since 1997-98.

• Brighton are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League away games – no side is on a longer current unbeaten run on the road than the Seagulls.

• Both Wilson and Hendrick scored on their Premier League debuts for Newcastle against West Ham last week – only Les Ferdinand in August 1995 has scored in both of his first two appearances for the club in the competition.

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