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Brighton logo
Championship
Feb 24, 2015 at 7.45pm UK
 
Leeds logo

2-0

Baldock (26'), Calderon (63')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Preview: Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Leeds United

Sports Mole looks ahead to Tuesday night's Championship clash between struggling Brighton and in-form Leeds.

Leeds United will travel to The Amex to face Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday night looking to keep up their remarkable recent revival.

Neil Redfearn's side are the form team in the league having picked up five wins in their last six matches, a major turnaround from the eight-game winless streak that preceded their current run.

Unsurprisingly, Leeds have flown up the standings as a result, and their relegation fears are now a distant memory as they sit in the top half of the table, 10 points clear of the bottom three.

Indeed, there have even been whispers of a late playoff charge, although by Redfearn's own admission it would be a tall order for them to breach the 15-point gap to sixth-placed Watford in the remaining 14 matches of the season.

Even so, Leeds will feel that they can beat anyone right now, with their recent run including victories over automatic promotion contenders Middlesbrough and Bournemouth. Their credentials will get another stringent examination in the next 10 days, with playoff hopefuls Watford and Ipswich Town next up after the Seagulls.

Should they beat Brighton then it would be the first time since December 2009 that they have won four matches on the trot, while you have to go back to March-April 2008 for the last time they kept four clean sheets in a row.

Leeds are also bidding for four away victories in a row for the first time since winning promotion back to the Championship in 2010, having only won one of their first 15 matches on the road in all competitions.

Redfearn will be without the suspended Giuseppe Bellusci, with Liam Cooper coming into the side to replace the Italian, while the visitors also have "one or two niggles" to assess before kickoff.

Brighton would dearly love a similar run of form to the one Leeds have enjoyed in order to alleviate their own relegation fears, but Chris Hughton's side did at least end their five-match winless streak at the weekend.

The Seagulls did it in dramatic fashion too, with Joao Carlos Teixeira and Inigo Calderon both netting braces in a 4-3 thriller against Birmingham City.

The victory was a timely one, keeping Brighton three points clear of the relegation zone, but Hughton will know that his side are far from safe just yet.

Albion have won two of their last three home games - doubling their tally for the season in the process - but they have not kept a clean sheet at The Amex in their last nine outings in all competitions.

They do, however, have a good recent record against Leeds, losing just one of their last eight league clashes, including a 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture.

Teixeira was again on the scoresheet in that match, his first goal for the club, and the Liverpool loanee is expected to start again in midweek as he looks to add to his tally of four goals in his last three home appearances.

Greg Halford and Solly March remain absent with knee and calf injuries respectively, but Emmanuel Ledesma is pushing for his debut having been an unused substitute at the weekend.

Brighton:

Form in Championship: WLLDDW
Form in all competitions: LLLDDW

Possible starting lineup: Stockdale; Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bennett; Ince, Kayal, Calderon, Teixeira, LuaLua; Best

Leeds:

Recent form: WWLWWW

Possible starting lineup: Silvestri; Wootton, Bamba, Cooper, Taylor; Cook, Murphy, Byram, Austin, Mowatt; Morison

Sports Mole says: 1-2


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Brighton & Hove Albion manager Chris Hughton prior to the FA Cup Third Round match between Brentford v Brighton & Hove Albion at Griffin Park on January 3, 2015
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