Sports Mole previews Saturday's Premier League clash between Leeds United and Brighton & Hove Albion, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Leeds United and Brighton & Hove Albion will both be seeking a return to winning ways in the Premier League when they face off at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.

The Whites have suffered back-to-back losses in all competitions, while Brighton went down 1-0 to Manchester City last time out in the league to remain in relegation trouble.

Match preview

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa pictured on January 2, 2021 © Reuters

The FA Cup may not have been high on Marcelo Bielsa's priorities for the season - his team selection made that clear - but going down 3-0 to League Two side Crawley Town in the third round will not help with morale.

That defeat came on the back of a 3-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the league, though Leeds have no reason to panic just yet.

Bielsa's men beat Burnley and West Bromwich Albion 1-0 and 5-0 respectively in their two games prior to this losing streak, leaving them well clear of the bottom three.

That is not the case for Brighton, who are now winless in nine Premier League games since beating Aston Villa 2-1 on November 21 - the longest winless run of any side in the competition.

Albion put up a good fight in going down 1-0 to Manchester City on Wednesday, with Phil Foden's strike just before half time proving the difference at the Etihad Stadium.

Brighton & Hove Albion manager Graham Potter pictured in December 2020 © Reuters

With Fulham picking up a point against Tottenham Hotspur on the same evening, though, it means Brighton are now just two points above the dropzone, with the Cottagers boasting two games in hand.

Next week's clash with Fulham has now taken on even more importance, and Brighton cannot afford to head into the game sitting below their opponents in the division.

Leeds, 11 clear of the dropzone, will have their sights set on the top half ahead of games with Albion and Newcastle United in their next two league outings.

This is not a fixture United tend to do that well in, however, having lost seven of their last nine against Brighton, although they did win the most recent encounter between the sides - a 2-0 win in March 2017 thanks to a Chris Wood brace.

Leeds United Premier League form: LWLWWL
Leeds United form (all competitions): WLWWLL

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form: DDLDWL
Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions): DDLDL

Team News

Yves Bissouma in action for Brighton on December 16, 2020 © Reuters

Kalvin Phillips is suspended for this match after accumulating five yellow cards, explaining why he started against Crawley in the cup last weekend.

Robin Koch, Gaetano Berardi, Tyler Roberts and Adam Forshaw are also out of Saturday's game, but Diego Llorente may be back involved.

Striker Patrick Bamford has gone two without a goal, though he still has a more-than-respectable 10 in 17 Premier League appearances this term.

As for Brighton, Graham Potter is boosted by the return of influential midfielder Yves Bissouma after serving a one-match ban.

Danny Welbeck, Tariq Lamptey and Adam Lallana will play no part, but there is a chance that Steven Alzate and Alireza Jahanbakhsh could return to the squad.

Neal Maupay is expected to lead the line and will be looking to add to a return of three goals in four league matches against Leeds.

Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Meslier; Dallas, Ayling, Cooper, Alioski; Klich; Raphinha, Rodrigo, Hernandez, Harrison; Bamford

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Webster, Dunk, Burn; Veltman, White, Bissouma, March; Gross, Tau; Maupay

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We say: Leeds United 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Leeds may have lost successive games in all competitions, but they have won back-to-back matches at Elland Road and are seeking three in a row there in the Premier League for the first time since 2001.

Brighton have struggled for wins all season, picking up just two victories in their 18 top-flight outings, and we cannot see them taking any points from this first top-flight encounter between the sides in 39 years.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

Video prediction

Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:

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 Leeds United win with a probability of 54.57%. A draw had a probability of 22.9% and a win for Brighton & Hove Albion had a probability of 22.56%.

The most likely scoreline for a Leeds United win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.84%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.82%) and 2-0 (8.99%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.75%), while for a Brighton & Hove Albion win it was 1-2 (5.89%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 5.9% likelihood.