Brighton & Hove Albion play host to Brentford on Boxing Day looking to end a 12-match winless streak in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Brentford have collected two victories from their last four outings, leaving the Bees level on points with their hosts in the Premier League standings.
Match preview
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Regardless of whether Brighton are still well above the bottom three, the criticism will continue to come for Graham Potter as long as his team fail to end their run without a victory.
Eight draws have been recorded from 11 top-flight fixtures, a stretch which includes stalemates against Arsenal and Liverpool, but frustration is understandable when they failed to win several winnable games at the Amex Stadium.
Before the postponement of their trip to Manchester United last weekend, the Seagulls went down 1-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers without having a shot on target during the second half.
Despite the players that were missing for that fixture, that statistic summed up their campaign thus far, and all Potter can do is hope that their luck changes in the final third.
Nine of their 14 goals have come from Neal Maupay and Leandro Trossard, who will argue that they require more help from their teammates rather than being held responsible for contributing to the joint-third worst attacking record in the division.
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An argument can be made for Brentford failing to build on their encouraging start to the season with a four-game losing streak occurring between October 16 and November 6.
However, head coach Thomas Frank will instead point to eight points coming from five games, their latest success coming against rivals Watford on December 10.
Sitting nine points ahead of the relegation zone, Frank can only be delighted with his team's efforts so far, and he will be confident of taking advantage of Brighton's lack of belief going forward.
While Wednesday's EFL Cup defeat to Chelsea came as a huge disappointment, the game was Brentford's first in 12 days, shaking off the cobwebs ahead of a further opportunity to extend the gap ahead of the bottom three.
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Team News
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Potter is boosted by the prospect of five players returning for Brighton, many of whom could be handed an immediate recall.
Shane Duffy, Pascal Gross and Maupay may all feature in the starting lineup, while Adam Webster and Danny Welbeck are expected to be selected among the replacements.
Adam Lallana came through the closing stages of the Wolves game and will also be considered for a role in the first XI.
As for Brentford, Frank will stick with much of the team which started the meeting with Chelsea on Wednesday night.
Ivan Toney should replace Yoane Wissa in attack, while Christian Norgaard and Frank Onyeka are options in midfield.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Lamptey, Veltman, Duffy, Cucurella; Gross, Bissouma, Moder; March, Maupay, Trossard
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Pinnock, Jansson, Sorensen; Canos, Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt, Henry; Toney, Mbeumo
We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Brentford
Having established a considerable gap between themselves and the bottom three, there is a certain degree of freedom for both teams to push for all three points. Nevertheless, we can only see a low-scoring share of the spoils, a result which would take both teams one small step closer to survival.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Brighton & Hove Albion win with a probability of 42.58%. A win for Brentford had a probability of 29.73% and a draw had a probability of 27.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Brighton & Hove Albion win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.44%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.5%) and 2-0 (8.14%). The likeliest Brentford win was 0-1 (9.94%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.99%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 8.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Brighton & Hove Albion would win this match.
