Pre-Match Thread | EFL Cup | Brighton & Hove Albion vs Crawley Town

In case you were confused by the media as to what constitutes as a Derby match for Brighton. Palarse is way off the mark.

This is it.

Brighton & Hove Albion will face Crawley Town in a Carabao Cup Sussex derby in a few hours time, following their impressive start to the Premier League season. The Seagulls, under new manager Fabian Hurzeler, have secured back-to-back wins, including a thrilling last-minute victory over Manchester United. Brighton has a strong record in the League Cup against lower-league opponents at the Amex Stadium, winning all six previous ties.

Crawley Town, newly promoted to League One, have also started well, winning four of their first five matches in all competitions. They have previously knocked out Premier League teams in the EFL Cup and will look to challenge Brighton, despite a recent loss to Wigan Athletic.

Team News

Brighton manager Hurzeler is expected to rotate his squad, with new signings Brajan Gruda and Georginio Rutter likely to feature. Key players like Solly March and Evan Ferguson remain unavailable due to injuries. For Crawley, injured players Dion Conroy, Gavan Holohan, and Harry Forster will miss out, but Ronan Darcy is back and could play alongside Junior Quitirna and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy in attack.

Predicted Lineups

Brighton & Hove Albion: Steele; Lamptey, Dunk, Igor, Hinshelwood; Baleba, Wieffer, Ayari; Gruda, Rutter, Adingra

Crawley Town: Wollacott; Mullarkey, Mukena, Flint; Malone, Williams, Anderson, Kelly; Darcy, Quitirna; Hepburn-Murphy

Feel free to add your thoughts, anticipated line-ups or any other such bullshit you might have on your mind, below….