Brighton predicted line-up vs. Fulham: four major changes made as £38m duo dropped

Brighton will be hoping to end a run of three Premier League matches without a win when they host Fulham at the Amex Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Seagulls have endured a testing few weeks in the top flight, with defeats to Aston Villa and Manchester City bookending a battling draw against Liverpool, but did taste victory in mid-week with a 2-0 win over Dutch giants Ajax courtesy of goals from Joao Pedro and Ansu Fati.

For their part, Fulham have been checkered in their recent form, recording two wins, two losses, and a draw in their last five matches. On Monday night they fell to a 2-0 defeat away at Tottenham, and now find themselves 13th in the table. A win at the weekend would, however, take them to within two points of Albion.

But how are both sides likely to line up on Sunday? We’ve taken a closer look at their respective team news, and their probably starting XIs below...

Brighton Team News

Brighton suffered a significant double injury blow during their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City last weekend, with both Solly March and Danny Welbeck being unwillingly withdrawn with complaints. The former was stretchered off deep into stoppage time after jarring his knee awkwardly, while the latter was taken off in the 16th minute due to a hamstring problem. Neither featured in the Seagulls’ Europa League clash with Ajax on Thursday evening.

Elsewhere, Pervis Estupinan and Tariq Lamptey are both sidelined with muscular injuries, while Julio Enciso has been forced into a watching brief after picking up a serious knee injury in August. Jakub Moder, who has been out of action for over a year, is now back in full training, and is understood to have played in friendly matches behind closed doors.

Brighton Predicted XI

Jason Steele; James Milner, Lewis Dunk, Jan Paul van Hecke, Joel Veltman; Simon Adingra, Pascal Groß, Billy Gilmour, Kaoru Mitoma; Ansu Fati, Joao Pedro.

Fulham Team News

Fulham were without a quartet of players on Monday evening against Tottenham, and are likely to be without the same four names again at the weekend. Adama Traore has been carrying a muscular injury since last month, Kenny Tete is battling a groin issue, and Tosin Adarabioyo has also been marooned on the treatment table with a similar complaint.

Issa Diop is the last name on the Cottagers’ potential injury list as a consequence of an ongoing foot problem. Speaking ahead of Monday night’s defeat in north London, manager Marco Silva said: “As you know, last game he got an injury. We are assessing him, let’s see how things go in the next few days, but he’s going to be out of the game.” Whether the Frenchman is fit enough to return against Brighton remains to be seen. If he does miss out, Calvin Bassey could keep his place at the heart of defence alongside Tim Ream.

Fulham Predicted XI

Bernd Leno; Timothy Castagne, Calvin Bassey, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson; Alex Iwobi, Joao Palhinha, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Andreas Pereira, Willian; Carlos Vinicius.