Tottenham Hotspur v Brighton predicted line-ups as eight ruled out and four return

Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton and Hove Albion will meet on Saturday afternoon as both sides aim to continue their challenges for a European place.

For Spurs, after missing out on Europe last season, the main target is a return to the Champions League as they head into their home clash with the Seagulls sat two points and one place behind fourth placed Aston Villa. After a season that has largely been dominated by injury issues, Brighton are three points adrift of the top six but will be in a positive frame of mind ahead of Saturday's game after easing to a 4-1 home win against Crystal Palace last weekend.

Both Roberto De Zerbi and Ange Postecoglou have received mixed news on the injury front in recent days and both managers are facing some major calls before they finalise their starting line-ups for Saturday's game.

Brighton team news

The main news surrounding Brighton does not even involve their starting eleven. There will be one key absentee on Saturday but it will be off-field as manager De Zerbi as the Seagulls manager misses the game due to "very invasive dental surgery”.

Assistant manager Andrea Maldera does have several absentees to contend with for the visit to North London. Solly March remains on the sidelines as he continues to undergo strict rehabilitation from the serious knee injury he suffered earlier this season and James Milner, Julio Enciso and Joel Veltman will all miss out but are expecting to return before the end of the month.

However, there was a major blow for the Seagull after Maldera confirmed a hamstring injury has ruled out Joao Pedro. He said: “Joao Pedro unfortunately has an injury in the hamstring and he cannot play tomorrow," Andrea explained. "He had a scan a few days ago and he needs another one. We don’t know how many weeks away he will be out for, we don’t want to take a risk.”

Winger Simon Adingra is currently preparing for Ivory Coast’s African Cup of Nations Final with Nigeria on Sunday but Kaoru Mitoma could return after Japan’s bid to win the Asian Cup was ended by a quarter-final defeat against Iran last weekend.

Brighton predicted line-up v Tottenham Hotspur

Verbruggen, Van Hecke, Dunk, Igor, Hinshelwood, Gross, Gilmour, Lamptey, Fati, Mitoma, Ferguson

Tottenham Hotspur team news

There should be a major boost for Spurs ahead of Saturday’s game as Heung-Min Son looks set to return to contention after South Korea’s Asian Cup campaign was brought to an end by a surprise semi-final defeat against Jordan earlier this week.

Giovani Lo Celso could also return after recovering from a thigh injury but the game could come too soon for Ryan Sessegnon, who is believed to be targeting next weekend’s home clash with Wolves as a possible date for a comeback from his own thigh injury. Yves Bissouma is in contention after returning from the African Cup of Nations but there is one other confirmed absentee as Manor Solomon continues his recovery from a knee injury.

Tottenham Hotspur predicted line-up v Brighton

Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Johnson, Maddison, Son, Werner, Richarlison