When we played Brighton in December they’d not won in four games, this time they’ve not won in six. Surprisingly before the current winless spell they had won six games in a row which included Chelsea twice in six days.
Over the last six games they’ve scored 7 and conceded 13, the only clean sheet they’ve kept was the 0-0 against Forest in the Cup, losing on penalties.
They do have a few injuries at the back; Joel Veltman, Adam Webster, Igor, Tariq Lamptey and Ferdi Kadioglu were all unavailable at the weekend against Brentford
Utility player Jack Hinshelwood had filled the right back slot for the previous 6 matches but against Brentford Hürzeler opted to move Hinshelwood into central midfield and play DM Matts Wieffer alongside usual suspects van Hecke, Dunk and Estupinan..
Wieffer has only had 6 starts out of his 23 appearances and has only scored once – against us.
Things could be further complicated, van Hecke went off on a stretcher after a clash of heads but was later released from hospital. Under EPL concussion rules he can't play for at least 6 days so he should be available but its not guaranteed..
When Van Hcke was suspended against Leicester DM Carlo Baleba played as a makeshift CB
The only defenders on the bench on Saturday were 23yo CB Eirin Cashin (£10m Derby in January) and U21 RB Charlie Tasker who hasn't made his first team debut yet. When Wieffer was subbed after 89 minutes Hürzeler preferred RW/LW Simon Adingra
In midfield James Milner is still injured, summer arrival Baleba has established himself as a first team regular with Matt O’Riley, Yasin Ayari and 22yo CM Diego Gomez (Inter Miami £11m, January) as options although O'Riley has recently been playing a more advance role in the middle of the three attacking midfielders
Up front Georginio Rutter could miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury, Joao Pedro will miss this one after picking up a red card on Saturday while Kaoru Mitoma was only fit enough for the bench after recovering from a heel problem but came on in the 65th minute and scored
Yankuba Minteh has started 14 games in a row and Solly March has made three consecutive appearances off the bench. Brajan Gruda who started against us in December has only started twice since January
And Danny Wellbeck will be 35 in November
A third draw in a row wouldn’t be bad
Best tactic would be to aim every shot at Lewis Dunk, Brentford scored two deflections off him
