WATCH OUR PREVIEW FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND PREDICITONS
TEAM NEWS
Yankuba Minteh and Danny Welbeck from Brighton need fitness assessments due to injuries. James Milner, Matt O’Riley, Joao Pedro, and Adam Webster are still unavailable, while Solly March is gradually regaining fitness.
Wolves’ goalkeeper Jose Sa shone against Manchester City and might retain his position, even if Sam Johnstone has recovered from his adductor issue. Hwang Hee-chan, Enso Gonzalez, Sasa Kalajdzic, Yerson Mosquera, and Boubacar Traore remain out of action.
GARY O'NEIL
Sam Johnstone has trained this week and O’Neil will “make a call” on his potential inclusion. Asked if he has a “firm idea in his mind” about whether Johnstone or Jose Sa will start in goal, O’Neil said: “I’m really clear on who is the best goalkeeper to start for us tomorrow.”
O’Neil has given the FA his observations around his comments following Manchester City’s late winner at Molineux on Sunday. He was keen to stress that his comments were made in a wider conversation around VAR in general and “wasn’t linked to the John Stones goal”, which he had said earlier in his news conference he could understand why it was given.
O’Neil said he can understand why Wolves supporters have frustrations with VAR decisions involving the club: “I was sent a league table, external in the week and we’re -20 for VAR interventions, which doesn’t mean they’re wrong or right, it just means every time VAR gets involved in the past five years, if you get a point for it going for you and you get a minus point for it going against you, we’re -20.”
He continued: “The nearest team to us are West Ham on -6, so you have an understanding as to why Wolverhampton and the fanbase isn’t a big fan of VAR at this moment.”
O’Neil said “there are a few things that feel like they go against you when you’re at the bottom of the league”, such as a tough opening run of fixtures, but he added: “Regardless of all of that, the team, myself, the club and the fanbase just stand up and fight every game, as you saw against Manchester City. We’ve had some tough bumps but we’re all standing here ready to fight again and ready to go to Brighton to give everything to improve our situation in the league.”
On Brighton: “It’s a big challenge – they’re going really well. They’ve got a fantastic side – they were already a fantastic side with Roberto de Zerbi there last year. There’s a lot of stuff still there from Roberto and it looks like the new manager is trying to shift it, but there are bits that are very similar.”
MATCH STATS & FACTS
Head-to-head
Brighton’s 11 top-flight wins over Wolves is more than they have managed against any other side.
Wolves have earned just three wins in their 20 away league games against Brighton and all of those have been by 1-0.
Brighton have already beaten Wolves 3-2 this season in a League Cup third-round tie.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton could equal their club Premier League record of three consecutive wins, set on two previous occasions.
In their first four Premier League seasons, Albion’s average points tally after eight matches was 7.8. That has risen to 15 points across their last three campaigns.
They need a point to equal their highest tally of 16 after nine games of a top-flight season, set last year.
The Seagulls have won just 12 of their 45 Premier League fixtures against teams starting the day in the relegation zone (27%).
Lewis Dunk is poised to make his 250th Premier League appearance. His previous 249 have all been starts.
Danny Welbeck’s five goals in eight league appearances has already equalled his final tally from 29 top-flight games last season. His best league return as a Brighton player is six, set in 2020-21 and 2022-23.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves have earned just one point from their past 11 league games and have lost more games (10) and conceded more goals (33) than any other top-flight side in that time.
They have failed to win any of their first eight league matches in a season for just the fourth time in the club’s history.
One point after eight games equals their lowest tally at this stage of a season, previously set in 1926-27 in the second tier.
Wolves could register seven consecutive defeats in all competitions for the first time since March to April 2012 under Terry Connor.
Their only victory in 18 league fixtures was 2-1 at home to Luton Town on 27 April.
The Black Country side are looking to avoid becoming the first team in 64 years to lose six top-flight matches in a row despite scoring in every one. It last happened to Manchester City in November to December 1960.
They are only the third team to concede as many as 23 goals after eight games of a Premier League season, emulating Sheffield Wednesday in 1999-00 (23) and Southampton in 2012-13 (24).
Since the beginning of last season, only Erling Haaland (16) and Ollie Watkins (12) have scored more Premier League away goals than the 11 by Matheus Cunha.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Michael Oliver. Assistants: Stuart Burt, James Mainwaring. Fourth official: Gavin Ward. VAR: Graham Scott. Assistant VAR: Adrian Holmes.
MATCH INFO
The match takes place at The Amex Stadium on Saturday 26th October at 3pm. This one is not live on UK television.
