Brighton v Sheffield Wednesday: Spoils to be shared on the south coast

"Since the start of last season, Brighton have recorded 9/14 (64%) draws against fellow top-six teams. And Sheffield Wednesday have followed suit in 7/16 (44%) from the same sample."

Brighton v Sheffield Wednesday
Friday 19th January, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports 1

Brighton

Chris Hughton has called on his Brighton side to bounce straight back from Saturday's 2-0 setback at Preston with the perfect pick-me-up - beating promotion rivals Sheffield Wednesday at the Amex on Friday evening.

The Seagulls suffered only their third loss of the Championship campaign - three fewer than any other team - as their unbeaten 18-match league streak went up in flames at Deepdale.

Dale Stephens, Gaetan Bong and suspension-free Lewis Dunk are all expected to return to the starting line-up with Stephens and Beram Kayal on course to be reunited in central midfield after the former's lengthy injury absence.

Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday produced a sluggish first-half performance against Huddersfield last time out but the introduction of new centre forward Sam Winnall at the interval sparked the Owls into life.

The Winnall added an extra dimension to Wednesday's play with the Owls eventually running out 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Ross Wallace and Fernando Forestieri. 

Winnall, along with fellow new signings Callum McManaman and Morgan Fox, are all hoping to starts here.

Carlos Carvalhal's kept his cards close to his chest with regards to who'll play but the Portuguese coach urged his team to keep their impressive league form going with the visitors cementing their place in the top-six thanks to six victories from their last 10 outings.

Match Odds

This is the first meeting between these sides at the Amex since last season's play-off semi-final, which ended in a 1-1 draw and Wednesday progressing 3-1 on aggregate. However, Brighton did gain a slice of revenge in October when the Seasiders recorded their first ever victory at Hillsborough.

The hosts have claimed nine wins from their past 12 games at the Amex and are rated 2.04 favourites to clinch another maximum point haul here having already seen off top-six rivals Leeds and Huddersfield on home soil.

Sheffield Wednesday can be backed at a fancy 4.40 for victory and with Carlos Carvalhal's men already beating Newcastle and Huddersfield on their travels this term, a repeat shouldn't be ruled out.

But it's the stalemate that stands out most, at 3.40. Since the start of last season, Brighton have recorded 9/14 (64%) draws against fellow top-six teams. And Sheffield Wednesday have followed suit in 7/16 (44%) from the same sample.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals

No second-tier side has shipped fewer goals than Brighton's tally of 17. In fact, the Seagulls have never conceded fewer goals following the first 25 matches of a season in their history and that rock-solid defence should lead towards another low-scoring encounter.

Eight of the past nine meetings between the two in Suffolk have seen Under 2.5 Goals collect and it's an angle that tallies kindly with the visitors recent trends. Nine of the Owls' last 11 away days have featured fewer than two three goals with Glen Loovens and Tom Lees' helping to secure five clean sheets in six.

Under 2.5 Goals has proven profitable in 22/30 (73%) of the pairs collective games against promotion rivals dating back to the beginning of 2015/16 although 1.63 quotes are prohibitively short.

Recommended Bets Back the draw @ 3.40