BHA PREVIEW
After the lengthy international break, which just seemed to go on and on indefinitely, the Lads return to the bread and butter this weekend that is the Premier League. We’re back on home soil at the Stadium of Light, and welcome Brighton to Wearside. It’s a rare 3pm kick off in SR5, and we are looking to get back to winning ways after a 5-3 reverse at the Etihad in our last league fixture. Can we come off that pitch with another W in the column?
LAST MEETING
The last encounter here in SR5 saw Brighton come off the pitch as victors and reward their supporters who had made the long trek from the South Coast. Gambian winger Yankuba Minteh scored the only goal of the contest after 58 minutes to decide matters. Minteh had previously been a player of those up the road but never made a single appearance for them, before joining the Seagulls in July 2024 for a reported fee of £30 million. We will naturally be hoping that lightning does not strike twice.
OUR OPPONENTS
Like ourselves, Brighton have had seasons in the lower divisions and were playing in what is now known as League Two as recently as the turn of the new Millenium. However, that was to spark an incredible rise which culminated into a promotion to the Premier League in 2017 where they have become an established member of it. They experienced European football for the first time in 2023 and now consistently feature in the top ten of the Premier League at the season’s end.
They have enjoyed a very promising start to the new season and currently sit third at this early stage. Their only league loss this season was in a seven goal thriller at Stamford Bridge, but they have bounced back in spectacular style including a 5-0 thrashing of Coventry City at the CBS Arena and a 3-0 dismantling of Champions Arsenal at the AMEX. They are certainly a team that will take you apart when they are on form and you are off it. We need to be really focused to ensure they don’t go back down South with another win under their proverbial belts.
All their achievements can be put into some kind of perspective in that they keep doing what they do despite selling their “stars” for huge sums. Their ethic is pretty similar to what we see here on Wearside. Buy a player, make him grow, sell at huge profit. Maybe it is the blueprint for all newly promoted sides to look at and follow? They are certainly a good example to look at for sure if you’re wanting to avoid the dreaded immediate drop one season after promotion.
THE LADS
Although we start this latest match in 14th place, it is safe to say that we have had a difficult beginning to season two. That said, we are only one win away from breaking into the top ten and five points off Liverpool and Everton who sit sixth and seventh respectively. There is definitely no reason at all to start to reach for the panic button at all just yet.
Yet the international break has come at a cost, and a massive cost at that. Both Dan Ballard and Big Bad Bri (Brobbey) picked up hamstring injuries and as a result won't line up against the Seagulls. Habib Diarra is apparently a week away from being available. We'll see how Le Bris tweaks his selection. Players who were on the fringe of selection will have to step up and fill those voids. I’m expecting the line up on Saturday to look something similar to this:
Roefs
Meunier – Mukiele – Danso – Reinildo
Xhaka – Sadiki
Hume – Le Fée – Fofana
Isidor
THE OFFICIAL IN CHARGE
Saturday’s official at the Stadium of Light is Sheffielder Thomas Bramhall. This will be the second time this season that Thomas has officiated the Lads, his previous game was the 1-1 draw at Brentford where Enzo’s late penalty gained us a point. He has officiated three games overall in the Premier League this season, handing out eight yellow cards and no reds.
