Spurs Look to Clip Seagulls as Tottenham Host Brighton

Tottenham vs Brighton

Tottenham Hotspur have faced Brighton Hove Albion the fewest times of any current team in the Premier League and it is not even close. Tottenham have played Brighton 18 times overall, the next lowest total number of games for a competition in the League at current is Sheffield United who Spurs have faced 34 times. That is almost twice as many times as Spurs have faced Brighton, who despite being in the topflight for a couple of seasons now are still very much new boys to the Premier League.

Mostly due to the limited number of times Tottenham have faced Brighton, there is no current Premier League club Tottenham average more points per game against than Brighton, averaging 2.17 points per game. Again, this measure is not close, as Tottenham does not average more than 2 points per contest against any other current Premier League side.

Tottenham also have the highest win ratio against Brighton of any current Premier League club at 66.7%. Overall Spurs have won 12 matches against only three defeats and three draws, all time. Further in the last six games between the clubs Tottenham have won four, drawn one and lost one. All this should mean Tottenham are heavy favorites against currently 16th place Brighton, however, recent history can be deceiving.

Despite winning four of the last six matchups with Brighton, Tottenham have a goal difference of zero in those six games. We cannot forget the heavy defeat Brighton inflicted on Tottenham in October of 2019, toward the end of Mauricio Pochettino’s reign as manager. Spurs won the earlier match-up in April and won again in December to win two out of three last year against Brighton.

However, Brighton outscored Tottenham 4-3 in those three matches, again thanks to that 3-0 thrashing. However, that December game where Spurs bounced back to win with a late Erikson goal was the last time Tottenham faced Brighton. After playing three times in calendar year 2019, Tottenham have not played Brighton once, until here the first of November.

In the end the question on Sunday is going to come down to who can keep their focus and concentration the longest and who blinks first. It seems likely a set piece will have a big part to play, as will the barrage of shots Brighton want to launch. Who controls possession and forces the other to adapt with have the upper hand, and at HotspurHQ we hope and thing it will be Spurs, who come out 3-1 winners to break the duck against the gulls at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.