· See the current injury list for all Premier League Teams
· All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats

Spurs v Brighton Cup record

FA Cup

Season   Rd   H/A  Result  Scorer(s)
2004-05   3    H    2-1    King, Keane

League Cup

1982-83  2(1)  H    1-1    Brooke (pen)
1982-83  2(2)  A    1-0    Crooks
2014-15  4     H    2-0    Lamela, Kane

It could be a long night against draw specialists

Thanks to the postponement of our scheduled Premier League game at The AMEX Stadium in December, Spurs have yet to play Brighton this season. In fact, bearing in mind "The Seagulls" only arrived in the Premier League in 2017, we have to date played just 8 Premier League games aganst this side, and just 18 league games in all.

Our first competitive meetings with Brighton took place in the 1977-78 season, which was our one season in the lower tier in the last 72 years, making us one of the most consistent, if not the most successful clubs around. We drew at home and lost away at the Goldstone Ground that season. That 3-1 defeat took us off the top of the table. Having dominated Division Two for the best part of the season, we contrived to almost fail to win promotion. Brighton considered themselves victims as we were finally promoted on goal difference after a famously tense 0-0 draw at The Dell. You can read Declan Mulcahy's summary of the conclusion of the 77-78 season here.

It wasn't long before Brighton did reach Division One where they spent four seasons between 1979 and 1983. They were relegated but reached the FA Cup Final, losing 4-0 to Man Utd in a replay. Brighton's path to the final (their one and only Cup Final) included a 4-0 win over Manchester City, many of whom had played against Spurs in the 1981 Final. City were still managed by John Bond then. Brighton were managed by Jimmy Melia, famously a former Liverpool player. Indeed, two of Brighton's goalscorers against City (Jimmy Case and Michael Robinson) were former Liverpool players.

As you can see above, we've only met Brighton in three previous cup ties, and just one of those was in the FA Cup. That was A third round game in January, 2005 when Brighton were managed by Mark McGhee. Brighton were a Championship side and would finish 20th that season. Their team included a former Spur Guy Butters. Our 2-1 win was not convincing, but goals by Ledley King and Robbie Keane would send us into the next round. Ledley and Robbie were the two players who held aloft our last trophy on 2008.

Brighton will be formidable opponents tomorrow. They are deservedly in the top half of the Premier League table and have lost only four league games. Spurs have lost six such games. Brighton's problem is the fact they draw too many games - 12 so far. "The Seagulls" were the league's draw champions last season with 15, and have drawn more than any other team so far this season.

Graham Potter's men are unbeaten in their last seven games, four of which have been draws. That run includes home and away draws against Chelsea, with a goal in each game. In that regard they have done better than Spurs have managed in their last five competitive meetings with Chelsea. Brighton have not been too active in the January transfer window. Their tall defender Dan Burn has been sold to Newcastle and Aaron Connolly has gone to Middlesbrough on loan for the rest of the season. Connolly upset Spurs in October 2019 in a 3-0 defeat when Hugo Lloris suffered a very painful injury, but the 22-year-old Irish International has scored few goals since.

Brighton beat West Brom at The Hawthorns in the third round with goals from Moder and Maupay. That match went to extra time. Maupay is Brighton's top scorer (7 league goals), but he is supported by Trossard and Mac Allister who both have 4 league goals to their name. 31-year-old Danny Welbeck is used sparingly, but has recently scored vital late goals. Note that Mac Allister will not be available as he had a positive Covid test yesterday (3rd February).

Other Brighton players to look out for if selected would be full backs Tariq Lamptey and Marc Cucurella and midfielder Bissouma. Bissouma played for Mali in The African Cup ofNations, but should be available. Mac Allister could be a doubt having recently tested positively for Covid. Brighton do have the benefit of no upcoming midweek fixture as their scheduled game against Chelsea was brought forward and has already been played. (Chelsea will be competing in the Club World Cup)

I think Spurs will need to play a team as near as possible to full strength to succeed here. The good news is that Heung-min Son is back in training. One of our new signings - Dejan Kulujsevski - has also been training this week and had his work permit confirmed. I would hope to see him take part tomorrow. Rodrigo Bentancur has also arrived, but probably too late to be involved in this game. Whilst not known for his goals, Bentancur scored a first minute goal for Uruguay late on Tuesday night in a World Cup qualifier win against Venezuela. Rrodrigo's last goal was two years ago for Juventus against Roma.

Many fans have been inconvenienced by the late Saturday night kick-off (8pm ITV4) for a game which has to be decided on the night and could involve extra-time and a penalty shoot-out. I do think the game could go into extra-time, but I think Spurs will win by the odd goal in three. Luckily, I am staying with family in Hertfordshire and do not have the pressure of travel worries. Post-match services might be delayed though, because of family commitments.

COME ON YOU SPURS!

Stuart Attwell is our match referee tomorrow. This will be Mr. Attwell's 17th game in charge of Spurs and his third this season. This is Mr. Attwell's first Spurs v Brighton game. In a "hard-marking environment, his average Spurs Odyssey grading of 5.73 compares quite favourably against other current referees.

Follow @spursodyssey