Now the ‘Seagulls’ are winless across their last 11 league games – that represents the club’s longest-ever wait for a top-flight win – which has fuelled fears of them extending a current winless run of 11 Boxing Day fixtures.
Brighton
When Brighton defeated Brentford back 1-0 in September, they were in the midst of an impressive five-game start to the league campaign. Now the ‘Seagulls’ are winless across their last 11 league games – that represents the club’s longest-ever wait for a top-flight win – which has fuelled fears of them extending a current winless run of 11 Boxing Day fixtures. A winless return across Brighton’s current five-game form further deepens the gloom at the Amex Stadium. However, a tally of three home clean sheets in this Premier League campaign shows that the hosts are likely to make it tough for Brentford, who are still mourning a loss to Chelsea on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup.
Brentford
Brentford’s midweek cup elimination may prove to be a blessing in disguise though, as they push for a top-half finish in their first top-tier season for 74 years. Before their last two Premier League games were postponed due to Covid-19, the ‘Bees’ were buzzing with eight points across their last five league games, following a run of four straight losses. Late strikes could be the order of the day, as two of the visitors’ last three Premier League winners have arrived beyond the 90th minute, with that number including one against Watford last time out. Yet, Brentford will likely need more than that to bookend their four-game winless run of Premier League away games, across which they conceded an average of 2.5 goals per game.
Leandro Trossard has been Brighton’s last scorer with his three Premier League strikes this season, including one in the reverse fixture. In contrast, Ivan Toney has scored Brentford’s opener with his four Premier League strikes, all of which have arrived inside the opening 30 minutes. Brentford have registered a joint league-low 61 corners ahead of this Boxing Day round (3.81 on average per match).