Brighton play their second home match in four days tonight as they welcome Portsmouth to the Amex Stadium in the Carabao Cup.
The Seagulls will aim to advance to the third round, where they were defeated by eventual finalists Aston Villa last season, and bounce back from Monday night’s 1-3 loss to Chelsea in their Premier League opener.
With Albion making the long trip north to Newcastle for a 2pm kick-off on Sunday, Graham Potter is likely to make wholesale changes to his starting line-up given the hectic schedule as several fringe players come in for rare starts.
The manager issued positive updates on the injuries to Adam Lallana and Ben White, both of whom went off on Monday night, but neither is in line to feature against Pompey. [via Brighton & Hove Independent]
Here is our predicted XI for tonight’s cup tie, which shows 10 changes from the team that started against Chelsea:
Mat Ryan, who was ever-present in the Premier League last season, will almost certainly be given the night off and that could give Jason Steele, who was on the bench on Monday, a chance to make just his second senior Brighton appearance.
Summer signing Joel Veltman didn’t feature against Chelsea but could make his Seagulls debut at right-back in place of Tariq Lamptey, with West Ham-linked Bernardo coming in at left-back. Adam Webster could be the only player from Monday’s defeat to start again tonight, with Dan Burn alongside him as the ex-Wigan man re-assumes his more customary centre-back role.
Potter has said in the lead-up to the game that Davy Propper will feature after shaking off a recent Achilles injury and the Dutchman could partner Dale Stephens at the base of midfield. Ahead of them, Brighton may line up with an attacking midfield trio of Pascal Gross on the right, Alireza Jahanbakhsh on the left and Alexis Mac Allister in the number 10 role.
Choice is abundant for the lone striker’s position, although the manager hinted earlier this week that Swedish youngster Viktor Gyokeres could make an appearance against Pompey and he might be given his chance to impress at centre-forward. Amid reported loan interest from Swansea, Potter perhaps wants to see what the 22-year-old can do before making a decision on his future.
Brighton fans, what players would you like to see in action tonight? Join in the discussion in the comments section below!
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