The Premier League run-in resumes on Saturday as Brentford take on Brighton and Hove Albion at Gtech Community Stadium (3pm kick-off GMT).
With six games of the season left to play, the Bees and the Seagulls are separated by five points in 11th and 10th respectively.
Yoane Wissa’s 15th goal of the campaign earned the west Londoners a point at Arsenal last weekend, while Brighton drew 2-2 with Leicester City at the Amex.
Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here's everything you need to know ahead of a big game in west London.
Pre-match Analysis
Richard Cole, Playmaker Stats: The key battles in Saturday’s clash at the Gtech
Brentford welcome Brighton and Hove Albion to the Gtech with the Seagulls on a five-match winless streak.
Fabian Hürzeler's team have blown hot and cold this season having previously gone eight matches without a victory from late November until early January – a run that included a goalless draw with the Bees at the Amex Stadium.
The Seagulls then followed that with nine wins in their next 11 games before their current form that sees them without a win in just over a month.
In Brighton's defence, they have been suffering from injuries this season with star winger Kaoru Mitoma also a doubt for the weekend's clash after missing the 2-2 draw with Leicester City.
The Japanese international would be a loss for the visitors. Mitoma ranks second in the Premier League and fourth in the top five European leagues with 135 progressive carries so far this season behind only Jeremy Doku, Lamine Yamal and Vinicius Junior. He is also in the top 10 in the league for carries into the penalty area.
Should he feature, Mitoma will be Brighton's most likely outlet of attack, and his team-mates are often trying to find him – only two players having received more progressive passes (274), Mohamed Salah and Bryan Mbeumo.
Meanwhile, Brighton's total tally of 292 successful take-ons in the league (ranking them third) is in part thanks to Mitoma's famous dribbling skills.
One player who will be back for Hürzeler is Jan Paul van Hecke. The Dutchman was sent off in Brighton's 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace earlier this month and served his suspension in the game against the Foxes.
Van Hecke ranks fifth in the league for passes into the final third (188) and sixth for progressive passes overall (199), so is a key part of Brighton's build from the back.
The Bees backline will be ready to defend crosses from Pervis Estupiñán who ranks joint sixth in the league for crosses with 18.
The Brentford defenders also need to be wary of Brighton's press with the Seagulls one of only three teams to have made 100 tackles or more in the attacking third (100 exactly). Although this works both ways with Brentford and Arsenal leading that stat with 102 tackles in the offensive third.
At the other end of the pitch, Brentford's forwards may be interested to know that while Brighton have had just 120 shots on target against them (only Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal have faced fewer), they have suffered 49 goals with only the bottom three, West Ham and Wolves conceding more. So, should the Bees get their shots on target, there's a good chance they'll be converted.
It is likely to be a close-fought tie in west London, of the past five meetings between the two teams, both sides have won once with the other three ending in draws.
Scout Report
Dan Long, Sky Sports: Brighton on track for a third top-half finish in four seasons
Brighton had great trouble holding on to leads during the first half of the season.
They took the lead in 11 of their first 19 Premier League games, but only went on to win four of those.
As a result, they were 10th at Christmas, but they really could have been challenging higher up, particularly given the absence of the pressure and increased load brought by European participation, as the Seagulls found out in 2023/24.
Had things panned out differently, Nottingham Forest might well have had company as the season’s greatest surprise package.
On several occasions - including after the goalless draw against Brentford at the Gtech the day after Boxing Day - Fabian Hürzeler insisted his side “deserved so much more.” Then the rewards started to come at the start of 2025.
Following a 1-1 draw with Arsenal on 4 January, up to and including the 2-1 win over Fulham on 8 March, Brighton won nine of their 11 games in all competitions.
One of the two defeats in that run was a 7-0 reverse at the hands of Forest, and their record Premier League loss. It was damaging in that sense but, in the grand scheme of things, a minor mishap in an otherwise sparkling run of form.
Hürzeler’s side had climbed to seventh by the time of the March international break, just two points behind Chelsea in fourth. They beat Newcastle to reach the quarter-final of the FA Cup, too, doing so for the third time across the last seven campaigns.
It has now been over a month since their last win, though. Forest dumped them out of the cup on penalties, following 0-0 draw after extra-time, and a run of six wins in eight in the league has made way for two points from the last 12 on offer.
Only Everton (14) have drawn more times this season than Brighton, who are level with Arsenal in second place on the list with 12.
The latest, against Leicester last weekend, brought boos from a section of supporters. It’s easy to forget how quickly expectations have risen at the club in recent years.
Still, it seems a drastic reaction when you consider what is still possible for Brighton in what remains of 2024/25.
The gap to the top six may have grown to six points, but there is still a five-point cushion between the Seagulls and the bottom half. The Opta Analyst is currently predicting a ninth-place finish; a third top-half finish in four seasons is not to be sniffed at.
European qualification is still very much on the cards, too, particularly given as many as 11 Premier League teams could well be playing in Europe next term.
Brighton have already scored 51 goals, which is their third-best Premier League return and, with six games still to play, they are one win away from 13, which would represent their second-best return.
They have only lost eight games to date, too, with their current record low the 11 losses in 2021/22.
And while it seems somewhat unlikely, a return of 15 points from the final 18 on offer would secure a record points tally of 63.
Regardless, Brighton have learned valuable lessons to take with them into next season – still just their ninth ever in the Premier League.
In the Dugout
Fabian Hürzeler
Born in February 1993, during the time his Swiss father and German mother were working in the USA, Fabian Hürzeler started out as part of Bayern Munich's youth system after returning to Europe aged two.
He spent the best part of a decade with Die Roten, working his way up to play for Bayern Munich II, while also representing the German national team at U15, U16, U17 and U19 levels.
Hürzeler moved on in 2013, first to Hoffenheim II, then to 1860 Munich II a year later, before dropping to the fifth tier of German football with Pipinsried, where he combined playing with the role of head coach, while also working as assistant manager of Germany U18s and U20s.
His coaching credentials were clear from the start, as Pipinsreid won promotion from the Bayernliga Süd in his first season.
After four years, he left the club in the summer of 2020 and was appointed assistant at St Pauli.
Two-and-a-half years later - aged just 29 - he became head coach after the departure of Timo Schultz, four months before he was granted his UEFA Pro Licence, and led the club to a fifth-place finish in 2 Bundesliga in 2022/23.
Hürzeler's side flourished in 2023/24, though, and went unbeaten in their first 20 games of the season, on the way to pipping Holstein Kiel to the title by a single point to secure a return to the Bundesliga after 13 years away.
Just three months after signing a new contract at St Pauli, Hürzeler took over from Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton, becoming the youngest permanent manager in Premier League history at the age of 31 in June 2024.
The Gameplan
With Andy Naylor, Brighton correspondent for The Athletic
The Athletic’s Andy Naylor explains how Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler is likely to set up his side at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday:
“It is quite a bit different to under Roberto De Zerbi in that, under him, they had that very methodical, forensic build up from the back.
“They still try to play, but they are also prepared to go a bit more direct at times. The mantra really with Hürzeler is intensity in and out of possession.
“That is what he wants to get to. It was quite interesting that, after that Forest defeat, they bounced back with six wins in a row - and, after the fifth of those wins, he said the players are still not fit enough.
“They are getting there, but are not fit enough for what he wants. He wants them to, basically, be the fittest, most intense side in the league. It is a work in progress.”
Last starting XI v Leicester City (4-4-2): Verbruggen; Hinshelwood, Dunk, Baleba, Estupiñán; Minteh, O’Riley, Ayari, Adingra; Welbeck, João Pedro
Read our full interview with Andy Naylor here
Match Officials
Robinson to referee Brentford for the first time this season
Referee: Tim Robinson
Assistants: Edward Smart and Steven Meredith
Fourth official: John Busby
Video assistant referee: James Bell
Tim Robinson has refereed 20 matches this season, showing 92 yellow cards and two reds.
His most recent Brentford assignment came in November 2023: Kai Havertz scored a late goal as Arsenal won 1-0 at Gtech Community Stadium.
Memorable Meeting
Brighton and Hove Albion 3 Brentford 3 (Premier League, 1 April 2023)
Pontus Jansson scored on his first start in six months as Brentford were denied all three points against Brighton and Hove Albion by Alexis Mac Allister’s last-minute penalty.
Thomas Frank’s Bees took the lead three times only to be pegged back on each occasion.
Jansson nodded home after 10 minutes; a goal which was cancelled out 11 minutes later by Kaoru Mitoma’s neat lob.
That kicked off a spell of three goals in seven minutes which saw Ivan Toney restore the Bees’ advantage before Danny Welbeck’s close-range leveller.
Ethan Pinnock put Brentford back ahead at the start of the second half; a lead which lasted until Mac Allister’s spot-kick in the final minute of normal time.