Tottenham v Brighton: Line-ups, stats and preview
De Zerbi faces a tough task against his former club.
Fabian Hurzeler called on Brighton and Hove Albion to play with intensity and not give Tottenham any hope as Roberto De Zerbi aims to boost Spurs’ survival hopes with a win over his former club.
De Zerbi takes charge of his first home game as Spurs boss with his side in a dire position following positive results for Tottenham’s rivals in the battle against the drop.
Third-bottom Tottenham are two points adrift of West Ham, who face Crystal Palace on Monday, and three behind Nottingham Forest. Leeds United have a six-point lead over Spurs following their surprise win at Manchester United.
With Forest and Leeds having favourable fixtures against Burnley and Wolves respectively, another defeat for Tottenham could leave them with a mountain to climb to avoid a first relegation from the top flight since 1977.
Tottenham have not won in the Premier League in 2026, and an opening home game against the last team he managed in England represents a difficult challenge for De Zerbi after suffering a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland in his maiden game at the helm.
Brighton have claimed three successive wins and are just two points adrift of sixth-placed Chelsea in the race for European football.
And while Hurzeler had kind words for De Zerbi, who led Brighton to European qualification in 2022-23 and then to the last 16 of the Europa League the following season, there will no room for sentiment in his side’s approach as they look to continue their fine form.
“I think he deserves the praise because he had a huge impact here on the club and achievements on the players,” Hurzeler said of De Zerbi.
“On the other side, when the whistle blows, it is a game between Brighton and Tottenham and our approach is the same. We are there to achieve something and to win the game and to show the right habits, so that is our focus.”
Asked if he is surprised by Tottenham’s predicament, Hurzeler replied: “I think everyone is a little bit surprised but on the other hand it’s very important to understand how ruthless the Premier League can be, how tight the Premier League is.
“You need to be at your highest level every weekend. We experienced, with a bad run this season, if you’re not doing the right behaviour daily then you have no chance at the weekend.
“Our goal is that we make our supporters loud, proud and therefore we need to have our style of play. We need to go there and play intense football, don’t give them any hope and be very mature in our approach.”
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Team news for Tottenham v Brighton
Tottenham captain Cristiano Romero is expected to miss the rest of the season with an MCL injury.
He joins Mohammed Kudus (thigh), Dejan Kulusevski (knee), Wilson Odobert (ACL), Ben Davies (ankle) and Guglielmo Vicario (hernia) on the sideline.
James Maddison (knee) and Rodrigo Bentancur (hamstring) are back in training.
Lewis Dunk is suspended for Brighton, who are also without Adam Webster (knee) and Stefanos Tzimas (knee).
Predicted line-ups for Tottenham v Brighton
Tottenham: Kinsky; Porro, Danso, Van de Ven, Udogie; Gray, Gallagher; Tel, Simons, Richarlison; Solanke
Brighton: Verbruggen; Wieffer, Van Hecke, Boscagli, Kadioglu; Ayari, Gross; Gomez, Hinshelwood, Minteh; Welbeck
Where to watch Tottenham v Brighton: TV and online streams
Tottenham v Brighton kicks off at 5:30pm. It will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, it can also be streamed via Sky Go.
Via Now TV, Sky Sports costs £14.99 for a day membership, £28 a month for a 12-month membership or £34.99 a month with no contract.
Sky Sports memberships include access to all 12 live Sky Sports channels and Sky Sports+, which offers live streams and a dedicated channel.
Stats for Tottenham v Brighton
- Tottenham are winless in their last three Premier League games against Brighton (D1 L2), having previously never gone more than once without a win against the Seagulls in the top- flight.
- Brighton have won two of their last four away league games against Spurs (L2), including a 4-1 victory last season. They’d only won one of their first nine visits between 1977 and 2020 (D2 L6).
- Brighton have scored 14 goals in their last five Premier League games against Spurs (2.8 per game), having scored just 10 in their first 12 against them in the competition (0.8 per game).
- Tottenham are the only Premier League side without a win in 2026, winning none of 14 games (D5 L9). It’s their second-longest winless league run in their history, only having a longer stretch without a win between December 1934 and April 1935 (16 games).
- De Zerbi’s first home Premier League game in charge of Brighton was against Tottenham in October 2022, losing 1-0. It’s the first time in Premier League history a manager’s first home game in charge of two clubs has been the same fixture.
- Brighton and Hove Albion have won five of their last six Premier League matches (L1), as many wins as they’d had in their previous 20 combined. Since matchday 27, they’ve won more points than any other team (15).
- Tottenham have won just one of their last 26 Premier League matches played across January, February, March, April and May (D7 L18), and are winless in their last 21 games in those months since a 3-1 win over Southampton last April.
- Brighton have won their last three away Premier League games – they’ve never won four in a row in the top-flight. The Seagulls have also kept a clean sheet in all three wins, last winning four on the bounce on the road in the league without conceding in March 2011 in League One.
- This will be De Zerbi’s first home Premier League game in charge of Spurs – only one of the previous 13 managers to take charge of Spurs have lost their first home game, though it was his predecessor Igor Tudor in February against Arsenal. Spurs have lost their last four home games, only losing five in a row once in their league history in February 1994.
Prediction for Tottenham v Brighton
Tottenham have not scored more than a single goal in a Premier League game since a February draw with Manchester City. Brighton have only failed to score once in their last six games. Even with the backing of the home crowd, it’s difficult to see Tottenham getting the win they desperately need.
Prediction: Tottenham 1-1 Brighton
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