Brighton & Hove Albion v Reading FC: Match Preview

Brighton & Hove Albion FC

Form (all comps): DDWWL

Brighton midfielder Beram Kayal could return to the starting line-up for the visit of Reading. The Seagulls have no new injury concerns but defender Uwe Hunemeier (groin) and midfielder Solly March (knee) remain unavailable.

Unlike their Reading, Brighton have it all to play for going into this one as they sit level on points with Hull in third and two points off the automatic promotion places. The Seagulls have put a run of three consecutive defeats in December / January behind them and have now lost only once in their last ten games. Chris Hughton’s men have lost just three times at home in the league this season and incidentally they all came in a row, over that dodgy December / January period previously mentioned and have won twelve of the other fifteen.

Reading FC

Form (all comps): LLDWW

Reading will be without defender Jake Cooper following his red card in the FA Cup defeat to Crystal Palace. Royals midfielder George Evans and striker Yann Kermorgant return after being cup-tied in the last match.

Reading come back down to earth with a bang on Tuesday night as they return to league action against Brighton following their cruel FA Cup quarter final exit to Crystal Palace on Friday evening. McDermott’s men must now pick themselves up and face what looks like a pretty uneventful run-in with their Championship status all but secure and any hopes of a place in the play-offs long since extinguished. The Royals travel to the Amex Stadium without a win in their last three trips to the South Coast. Their last win came in the 2011/12 promotion season when a deflected free-kick from Ian Harte sent The Royals level on points with Southampton at the top of the table, how times have changed since then. Reading have won just once in their last twelve away games, a quite dismal record that has not been overlooked by this feature.

Brighton (v Sheffield Wednesday): D. Stockdale, L. Rosenior, Bruno Saltor, L. Dunk, C. Goldson, S. Sidwell, D. Stephens, J. Murphy, S. Baldock (J. Wilson 76), T. Hemed (K. LuaLua 70), A. Knockaert (B. Zamora 68).

Reading (v Crystal Palace): Ali Al Habsi, P. McShane, C. Gunter, M. Hector, J. Cooper, S. Quinn, H. Robson-Kanu, O. John, O. Norwood (D. Williams 75), J. Obita (D. Rakels 90), S. Cox (M. Vydra 60).

What The Opposition Think

"I think I said I expected us to finish 10th in my pre-season preview so to be top for much of the early part, unbeaten for the first 20 games, and still 4th going in to the run in with a real shot of automatic promotion is astounding."

Read the full edition of the Brighton view ahead of the game here.

Last Five Meetings

31 Oct 2015: Reading 1-1 Brighton (League Championship)

10 Mar 2015: Reading 2-1 Brighton (League Championship)

26 Dec 2014: Brighton 2-2 Reading (League Championship)

08 Mar 2014: Brighton 1-1 Reading (League Championship)

04 Jan 2014: Brighton 1-0 Reading (FA Cup)

Head To Head

Reading v Brighton: W:35 D:32 L:29

YouTube History

Prediction

Brighton FC 2-1 Reading FC