Crystal Palace v Brighton & Hove Albion Monday 16th December 2019 // 7:45pm
Jeffrey Schlupp loves the relationship he has with the Crystal Palace fans. Here, he talks with Dan Blazer about his cult hero status, arriving from Germany and ham and pineapple pizza.
JAIRO RIEDEWALD & MAMADOU SAKHO
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WILFRIED ZAHA
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JAMES McCARTHY
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WAYNE HENNESSEY
CRYSTAL PALACE v BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
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AMATEUR ANALYSIS PALACE V BRIGHTON
ORCHESTRATOR: DALE STEPHENS 40
Dale Stephens is one of four players to have featured in all 16 Premier League games for Brighton so far this season, having been substituted off for just 25 minutes. Stephens is crucial to Graham Potter’s side which is epitomised in the manager's reluctance to ever move the midfielder from the middle of the park. All around Stephens the personnel is tweaked, with several players being tasked to play in different positions, but Stephens remains ever-present in the centre. Stephens may not be a Fantasy Football manager’s dream but the midfielder is key to dictating the tempo of Brighton’s play, with the 30-year-old
having made 1038 passes, the most by any Brighton player this season. As well as keeping possession, Stephens is key to Brighton winning the ball back too. With the expected defensive trio of Dan Burn, Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster in the Seagull’s top four for interceptions, Stephens is second on that list with 29 – Dunk tops it with 30. STEPHENS IN THE PL
Tackles
44
Interceptions
29
Passes
1038
Tackle Success
61%
Duels Won
56
Recoveries
138
CRYSTAL PALACE v BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
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SHARING THE BURDEN IN THE FINAL THIRD Brighton & Hove Albion’s leading goalscorer in the league is Neal Maupay, with the summer signing from Brentford leading their scoring charts with six goals. Although a respectable return from the forward, that total is the joint-seventh lowest total in terms of each Premier League clubs’ top scorer. Potter has built a team that shares the attacking burden, with
defenders Adam Webster and Lewis Dunk registering a brace of goals each, whilst forwards Leandro Trossard and Aaron Connolly are also on the same number as the centre-backs. Dunk and Trossard also perform well when it comes to setting up goals with the pair – along with Pascal Groß – topping Brighton’s assist charts for the season with two. Although the numbers aren’t earth-shattering, Brighton have clear threats at set-pieces in Dunk and
Webster, on the wings in Connolly, Trossard and Groß, as well as having the league’s joint-twelfth top scorer for the season. Therefore, Potter’s men clearly have various ways to pose a threat in the final third. PLAYER
GOALS
Maupay
6
Connolly
2
Dunk
2
Trossard
2
Webster
2
21-year-old Alzate has been made to wait for his moment with the Seagulls, but after two years with Brighton & Hove Albion, the Colombian international, who was born in Camden, has been a key tool for Potter. Listed as a striker on Brighton’s club website, it’s ironic that leading the line is more or less the only position Alzate hasn’t played under the Brighton manager in his eight Premier League starts. Alzate’s first two league starts saw him start at left-wingback. However, since then, the former Leyton Orient player has played in central midfield, on
41
USE OF STEVEN ALZATE
2 2
Right-back
Left-wing-back
2 1
Centre-midfield
Right-midfield
1 Left-midfield
Steven Alzate Starting Roles either wing, and in the club’s last two games Alzate has filled in at right-back against Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers. A relatively young and inexperienced player being
tasked to play five different roles across eight Premier League starts is an area Roy Hodgson’s Eagles could look to exploit and capitalise on his inexperience.
CRYSTAL PALACE v BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
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68 CRYSTAL PALACE v BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
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CRYSTAL PALACE 1 BOURNEMOUTH 0 SELHURST PARK TUESDAY 3RD DECEMBER
CRYSTAL PALACE v BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
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MATCH SPONSOR
MacKing ESTABLISHED 2007
BRIGHTO
Joel WARD Patrick VAN AANHOLT Luka MILIVOJEVIC James TOMKINS Scott DANN Max MEYER Cheikhou KOUYATÉ Jordan AYEW Andros TOWNSEND Wilfried ZAHA Mamadou SAKHO (GK) Wayne HENNESSEY Jeffrey SCHLUPP Christian BENTEKE James McARTHUR (GK) Stephen HENDERSON Connor WICKHAM James McCARTHY Victor CAMARASA Gary CAHILL (GK) Vicente GUAITA Martin KELLY Jaïro RIEDEWALD
01 Mat RYAN (GK) 03 Gaëtan BONG 04 Shane DUFFY 05 Lewis DUNK 06 Dale STEPHENS 07 Neal MAUPAY 08 Yves BISSOUMA 11 Leandro TROSSARD 13 Pascal GROß 14 Leon BALOGUN 15 Adam WEBSTER 16 Alireza JAHANBAKHSH 17 Glenn MURRAY 18 Aaron MOOY 19 José IZQUIERDO 20 Solly MARCH 21 Ezequiel SCHELOTTO 22 Martín MONTOYA 23 Jason STEELE (GK) 24 Davy PRÖPPER 27 David BUTTON (GK) 28 Tudor BALUTA 30 BERNARDO 33 Dan BURN 44 Aaron CONNOLLY 46 Steven ALZATE 48 Andrew CROFTS 50 Alex COCHRANE 51 Jordan DAVIES 58 Haydon ROBERTS 61 Ryan LONGMAN
TODAY’S OFFICIALS Craig PAWSON Ian HUSSIN Richard WEST Peter BANKES Martin ATKINSON Lee BETTS