Matchday 30 brings us a tasty fixture between 5th place Tottenham Hotspur and 6th place Brighton. Spurs, who recently parted ways with Antonio Conte will be hoping that Man Utd drop points so that they could climb up into that CL spot. Although one match in hand for United and a team under a caretaker does not help Spurs. On the other hand, we have De Zerbi’s bright-on-the-field eleven. They have gone unbeaten in their last 5 matches and will look that no harm comes to this run.
Tottenham just played their first match under their caretaker manager Cristian Stellini, last week. Things were not good under their ex-manager Conte. Him leaving Spurs rather than Spurs sacking him, speaks volumes. Although things might be looking haywire off the field but the team is steady at the 5th position on the table. The 4th position looks very much in the radius of things to achieve till the end of the season.
Meanwhile, The Seagulls has been a side to look out for this season. Playing optimistic football, everybody loves them. Even though Potter left them but the magic still stayed as Roberto De Zerbi has Leviosa-ed the team on the points table. Surely the 4th spot might be tough but defeating Spurs will aid them. Will the Seagulls come on top of the Cockerel? It is all to look out for.
Tottenham Hotspurs’ PL form: D D W L W
Brighton & Hove Albion’s PL form: W D W D W
When & Where?
Where: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London.
When: Saturday, 8th April 2023.
Time: 7:30 PM IST / 2:00 PM GMT
Match Officials
Referee: Stuart Attwell.
Assistants: Darren Cann, James Mainwaring.
Fourth official: Jeremy Simpson.
VAR: Michael Salisbury.
Assistant VAR: Dan Robathan.
Team News
Tottenham will be missing their Brazilian striker, Richarlison due to a muscle injury. He is expected to come back next weekend. Lucas Moura will be serving his 3-match ban, so he’s registering an absentee for this fixture. Also, few names like Bentancur, Emerson Royal, Ben Davies, Bissouma, and Sessegnon will not be available for this matchday.
For Brighton, Adam Lallana, Tariq Lamptey, Sarmiento and Moder will be unavailable. But the good news is that Mac Allister and Caicedo will not be absent even though suffering injuries against Bournemouth.
Tactical Game
Cristian Stellini has only managed one game for Tottenham, so it’s hard to say how he works up his tactics against Brighton. But he was assistant under Conte and his Italian instincts surely scream a back-3 shape of play. His favourite formation is 3-4-2-1. The back of 3 defenders tends to spread wide. The double mid pivot accompanied by the wing-backs provides a stable mid-bank of 4. The 2 players behind the striker tuck inside and work in those inside spaces. This system more of looks more like a 4-4-2 but skewed to the right side.
Roberto De Zerbi sets his team with a 4-2-3-1 shape on paper. But a beautiful shape of 4-3-3 is acquired by the team as the game proceeds. He loves possession and optimistic football. A box midfield is observed at times, with the striker joining the mid. Mac Allister plays an important role as he is the player with the number 10 role. All the players are just so well in sync that they put on a good show. De Zerbi is managing them just fine.
Key Players
Harry Kane
No surprises here as the human top scorer in the league (Haaland’s a robot) is the key player for Tottenham. He has started every match for the Spurs and has played every minute. He is the sole definition of a KEY PLAYER. Scoring 22 in 29 matches, Harry Kane has shown his class this season too. Spurs will be relying on him to get the ball past the Brighton net. He is a leading figure for the team.
Kaoru Mitoma
The Japanese star has impressed us all this season. He has been a highlight player for Brighton this year. Achieving 11 Goals + Assists in 15 starts out of 22 played, he is surely one to keep an eye on. He plays on the left wing, sometimes in mid and sometimes forward. Pedro Porro has a big task up his sleeve to track the Japanese winger.
Predicted Lineups
Tottenham Hotspurs’ predicted starting lineup: Lloris; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Pedro, Skipp, Højbjerg, Perišić; Kulusevski, Son; Kane.
Brighton & Hove Albion’s predicted starting lineup: Steele; Veltman, Dunk, Colwill, Estupiñán; Groß, Caicedo; March, Mac Allister, Mitoma; Ferguson.
