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I write a lot of different pieces across a lot of different sports – previewing sellers at Lingfield for racing enthusiasts, NFL clashes for those with weirdly-American accents despite living in Bristol and WrestleMania for those chaps who live in their parents’ garages.
But without question, the best thing I can focus my attention on is the fact that Brighton and Hove Albion and Crystal Palace dislike each other and their rivalry is named after a dual carriageway.
Brighton v Crystal Palace – Friday, January 14 8pm
Sky Sports Football & Main Event
And yes, I’m acutely aware that history ties these two together more than any stretch of tarmac ever could, but honestly – we need a new title for the M23 derby before it falls into meme territory.
Anyway, post-League Cup and rescheduling madness, there’s nothing quite like a Friday night fixture to really make you feel like you can’t escape football on any day of the week…
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The latest football odds are on PaddyPower.com right now*A Bet Builder with these four best bets pays at approximately 22/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
The Draw
These sides are both doing slightly better than you expect when you look at the league table and the reason for that is they’ve both developed a tendency to not throw away games as the season has progressed.
Brighton have lost just four times all year, which, when you consider their traditional return of dominating games and failing to find the net in order to land them a result – is both a welcome development for the club and a justification for the xG nerds. I include myself in that, obvs.
The Seagulls have drawn the joint-highest amount of games in the Premier League this season (nine) with Palace being tied eight times. There’s just a single goal between them in the Goal Difference column too. It’s all pointing towards another stalemate here.
Half Time: The Draw
I know it’s a bit of a cop-out, but both of these sides tend to pounce late.
Seven of Palace’s last ten goals have come in the second halves of games, perhaps most notably when they notched two late on against West Ham to really sugarcoat the result.
Brighton, in close games, have scored late and very late at that. Danny Welbeck scored in injury time at Stamford Bridge, Neal Maupay managed to score in the 98th minute at Southampton a few weeks back just days after an 89th-minute equaliser at West Ham.
He also scored with the last kick of the game in the reverse fixture between these two back in September to rescue a point for the visitors at Selhurst Park.
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Under 2.5 Goals
Palace have conceded three times in each of their last three games in the league, and that won’t please Big Paddy V. Ultimately they’re going to have to reset if they want the results to be sustainable and that will come down to them being more solid than they’ve shown in recent weeks.
It’s also worth noting that last week’s 3-2 win at Everton was the first time Brighton have been involved in a game not against Man City or Liverpool to hit the overs since mid-September’s 2-1 win over Leicester.
Leandro Trossard to Have 2 or More Shots on Target
I don’t understand why Leandro Trossard is posted at such a big price every week when he’s taken ten more shots than any of his team-mates this year, but I will keep going back to this well if I have to.
Brighton v Crystal Palace Bet Builder tips
The Draw
Half Time: The Draw
Under 2.5 Goals
Leandro Trossard to Have 2 or More Shots on Target
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