Brighton & Hove Albion will endeavour to snap an alarming six-game losing run in the Premier League when Norwich City visit the Amex Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Seagulls have slipped down to 13th place in the table amid their streak of defeats, while Dean Smith's side remain rock bottom of the pile as the Championship looms.
Match preview
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Formerly tipped as early European outsiders following their bright start to the campaign, Brighton have experienced a drop-off that many would have predicted, but the manner of their recent spate of losses has probably surprised even the most ardent of Seagulls supporters.
Before the international break allowed Graham Potter a much-needed opportunity to recharge the batteries, Brighton were comfortably swept aside 2-0 by Tottenham Hotspur in front of their own fans, as Cristian Romero and Harry Kane's goals completed the job for the Lilywhites.
A sixth successive defeat sees Brighton looking over their shoulder rather than above the table heading into the business end of the season, with the Seagulls three points off a top-half place but still comfortably 11 clear of the relegation zone.
Another season in the Premier League is seemingly in the bag for Brighton, but concern may start to creep in if their streak of losses continues any longer, especially seeing as they have only managed one goal in the process while conceding at least two in every game.
Furthermore, the Seagulls have now gone four home games on the bounce without scoring and are still on the hunt for their first win at the Amex since the turn of the year, so the visit of a Norwich side enduring their own miserable period is certainly a welcome occasion.
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While Norwich City have not had as much trouble finding the back of the net as Brighton have in recent memory, Dean Smith's side are still ending up on the wrong end of scorelines and are seemingly consigned to a swift demotion back down to the Championship.
Prior to the international break, Norwich succumbed to a seventh defeat in a row across all tournaments as Leeds' Joe Gelhardt came off the bench to score a stoppage-time winner at Elland Road - mere moments after Kenny McLean appeared to have salvaged a point for the Canaries.
Smith's men have not been resigned to their fate just yet but are eight points adrift of safety having played two games more than 17th-placed Everton, and each passing defeat makes pulling off a great escape seem more improbable by the week.
As is the case with Brighton, Norwich also come into this game on a six-match losing run in the top flight - conceding almost three per game on average in that stretch - while they are the only team in the division yet to hit the 10-goal mark away from home this term.
Furthermore, the Canaries are yet to score against Brighton in the Premier League - losing 2-0 and 1-0 in 2019-20 before a goalless draw at Carrow Road back in October - and one would not put it past another drab stalemate occurring on Saturday either.
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Team News
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Brighton boss Potter has conceded that neither Adam Webster (groin), nor Adam Lallana (thigh) will be ready to return for Saturday's game, while the ill Moises Caicedo will miss out too.
Tariq Lamptey was forced to withdraw from the England Under-21 squad due to illness but is fine to line up here alongside Robert Sanchez, and Alexis Mac Allister should shake off a knock sustained on Argentina duty.
Jakub Moder is on a high after helping Poland qualify for the World Cup and is an option for change in the engine room, while Potter should keep faith with Neal Maupay at the tip of the attack despite his six-game scoreless run.
Norwich boss Smith also has a number of woes to work around for Saturday, with Max Aarons and Brandon Williams both out of contention, Adam Idah (knee) out for the season and Andrew Omobamidele still struggling with his back problem.
Grant Hanley has had a few weeks to overcome a bout of COVID-19 and should be fine to line up here, while there is also optimism over Sam Byram and Christoph Zimmermann's availability for the trip south.
Mathias Normann and Billy Gilmour could freshen up the midfield after being named on the bench for the loss at Leeds, while Hanley's return to fitness is timely amid Ozan Kabak's "long-term" hamstring problem.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Lamptey, Dunk, Duffy, Cucurella; Bissouma, Moder; March, Mac Allister, Trossard; Maupay
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Krul; Byram, Hanley, Gibson, Giannoulis; McLean, Normann, Gilmour; Sargent, Pukki, Rashica
We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 0-0 Norwich City
The international break came at an ideal time for both managers, but it is still extremely difficult to envisage where the goals might come from in both ranks, so fans should not expect fireworks at the Amex.
In our opinion, this battle has a goalless draw written all over it, with neither shot-shy attack capable of causing their opponents' defence any serious problems.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Brighton & Hove Albion win with a probability of 52%. A draw had a probability of 26% and a win for Norwich City had a probability of 22.01%.
The most likely scoreline for a Brighton & Hove Albion win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.76%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.41%) and 2-1 (9.21%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.16%), while for a Norwich City win it was 0-1 (8.04%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 9.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 0-0 draw for this match.
