Crystal Palace v Brighton: Likely line-ups for Premier League clash

The Premier League weekend begins with Brighton & Hove Albion travelling to arch rivals Crystal Palace on Saturday lunchtime.
Solly March. Picture by PW Sporting PhotographySolly March. Picture by PW Sporting Photography
Solly March. Picture by PW Sporting Photography

The Seagulls beat Palace 3-1 at the Amex in December and will be looking to complete their first league double over the Eagles since the 1983/84 season.

Palace head into the game 13th in the top flight after a run of just one defeat in six games, while Albion are 15th and three points below the Eagles after ending a seven-game winless run with a 1-0 victory over Huddersfield last time out.

CRYSTAL PALACE

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Palace boss Roy Hodgson is unlikely to make too many changes from their 3-1 win at Burnley last weekend.

Wayne Hennessey started in goal in the Eagles' victory at Burnley with doubts over Vicente Guaita's future. Guaita only arrived at Palace in the summer but reports suggest he could soon be on his way back to La Liga.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka returned to the starting line-up at the Clarets, while it was Wilfried Zaha who was the star of the show with a double.

Michy Batshuayi was also on target, netting his second goal for the Eagles since joining on loan from Chelsea.

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Midfielder James McArthur and winger Andros Townsend will be among the Palace players targeting a return to the starting line-up but Mamadou Sakho and Papa Souare are both set to miss out.

Likely line-up: Hennessey; Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Dann, van Aanholt; Zaha, Kouyate, Milivojevic, Meyer, Schlupp; Batshuayi. Subs (from): Guaita, Ward, Townsend, Ayew, Benteke, McArthur, Kelly, Riedewald, Sako, Wickham.

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION

Seagulls boss Chris Hughton has an almost fully fit squad to choose from, so has decisions to make all over the pitch.

The back four is likely to be the same which started the 1-0 win over Huddersfield last weekend, with Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk in the centre of defence and Martin Montoya and Bernardo in the full-back positions.

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Dale Stephens, Davy Propper and Yves Bissouma are likely to be the three-man midfield but Hughton could make changes out wide.

Solly March and Jose Izquierdo will both be pushing for starts at the expense of Anthony Knockaert and Alireza Jahanbakhsh.

Up front, Florin Andone will hope his match-winning performance off the bench last weekend will see him start ahead of Glenn Murray. However, former Eagles frontman Murray has netted on the last three occasions Brighton have come up against their arch rivals.

Jurgen Locadia will hope to return to the matchday squad after missing the 1-0 win against Huddersfield.

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Midfielder Pascal Gross (hamstring) is again ruled out but defender Leon Balogun is back available.

Likely line-up: Ryan; Montoya, Duffy, Dunk, Bernardo; Dale Stephens, Yves Bissouma, Davy Propper; March, Murray, Jahanbakhsh. Subs (from): Button, Bruno, Burn, Bong, Kayal, Knockaert, Izquierdo, Locadia, Andone, Balogun.

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