Brighton v Tottenham LIVE: Premier League result and reaction as Spurs comeback falls short
Brighton 4-2 Tottenham: The Seagulls hung on after racing 4-0 ahead in a thrilling post-Christmas cracker
Tottenham Hotspur’s top-four ambitions suffered a blow as they lost 4-2 at Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League with only a late rally saving them from their heaviest defeat since Ange Postecoglou became manager.
Victory would have put injury-hit Spurs above Manchester City into fourth spot but they were mauled on the south coast as a Brighton side also missing key players ran riot.
A powerful early strike by Jack Hinshelwood and Joao Pedro’s penalty gave the hosts a deserved 2-0 lead at half-time as Tottenham struggled to deal with Brighton’s intensity. The visitors responded in the second half with Richarlison having a goal disallowed but when half-time substitute Pervis Estupinan sent a thunderbolt past Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario and Pedro netted a second penalty the game seemed over.
However, when Tottenham’s late substitute Alejo Veliz fired home from close range in the 75th minute and Ben Davies scored with a header a miraculous comeback suddenly looked possible. Midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg hit the post for Spurs in stoppage time as Brighton looked nervy but they held on to move into eighth place in the table while Tottenham remain fifth.
Relive all the action below:
Brighton vs Tottenham
The teams are on the pitch at the Amex and kick-off is imminent.
Brighton vs Tottenham line-ups
We’re about five minutes away from kick-off in East Sussex. Here’s a reminder of how the teams line up this evening.
Brighton XI: Steele; Hinshelwood, Van Hecke, Dunk, Igor; Gilmour, Milner; Buonanotte, Gross, Pedro; Welbeck
Tottenham XI: Vicario; Porro, Royal, Davies, Udogie; Hojbjerg, Sarr; Johnson, Kulusevski, Son; Richarlison
Brighton vs Tottenham
Warm-ups completed at the Amex.
Arsenal vs West Ham
A reminder that there’s one other Premier League match taking place this evening as we finish off the ‘Boxing Day round’ of fixtures.
Arsenal are looking to return to the top of the table but need to beat in-form West Ham this evening to do so. The Gunners’ record against the Hammers is pretty formidable though, having only lost two league matches against them since 2007... David Moyes’s men did triumph in the Carabao Cup fixture between the sides earlier this season if that’s worth anything.
Team news is about to be released and you can follow all the build-up ahead of an 8.15pm kick-off here:
Arsenal v West Ham LIVE: Latest Premier League updates
The festive schedule continues as Mikel Arteta’s side look to return to the top of the Premier League table
Brighton vs Tottenham stats
A few nuggets of information courtesy of Opta ahead of the game this evening:
- Brighton have lost their last two Premier League home games against Tottenham without scoring; they’d only lost once and scored every time in their first four at the Amex Stadium against them (W2 D1).
- Tottenham did the league double over Brighton last season – it’s the fifth time they’ve won consecutive league matches against the Seagulls but have never won three in a row before.
- Brighton haven’t won their final league game in any of the last three calendar years, losing to Arsenal at home in both 2020 and 2022, and at Chelsea in 2021.
- After a seven-game winless run away from home between February and May (D2, L5), Tottenham have lost just one of their last 10 on the road in the Premier League (W6, D3), going down 2-1 at Wolves last month.
Tottenahm ready to take on Brighton
Spurs arrived at the Amex Stadium a little earlier this evening and are ready to take on Brighton.
Ange Postecoglou reveals extent of Cristian Romero injury
Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has been dealt another injury blow after he confirmed Cristian Romero will miss the next four to five weeks with a hamstring strain.
Romero only returned from a three-match suspension at the beginning of December but is now set for another spell on the sidelines.
The Argentina international sustained the injury during last weekend’s 2-1 victory against Everton and a scan this week has revealed a hamstring strain.
Ange Postecoglou gives Tottenham January transfer update after Cristian Romero injury blow
Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham will do their January transfer business earlier than usual after the club were hit by another injury blow.
Spurs travel to Brighton tonight and will be without centre-back Cristian Romero, who has been ruled out for four to five weeks with a hamstring strain.
Romero joins a growing injury list that includes Micky van de Ven, Rodrigo Bentancur and James Maddison, while next month Yves Bissouma, Pape Sarr and captain Son Heung-min will also be unavailable due to international commitments at the Africa Cup of Nations and Asian Cup.
Tottenham have notoriously been active on transfer deadline day in the winter window, signing Pedro Porro earlier this year and making a double swoop for Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski in 2022.
However, Postecoglou said: “Obviously if we can do business early, it’s great for us. Not just because of losing Romero but there’s a whole month there – why waste it?”
Ange Postecoglou reveals Tottenham plans for January transfer window
The Argentine defender could miss the whole of January with a hamstring strain
Brighton vs Tottenham team news
Spurs line up more or less as we expected with Destiny Udogie returning to the back-line following his suspension as full-backs by trade Emerson Royal and Ben Davies resume their centre-back partnership enforced by injury. Richarlison is fit to lead the line ahead of Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min.
Brighton’s standard rotation is employed by Roberto de Zerbi. Jason Steele is the goalkeeper of choice this week, while James Milner, Danny Welbeck and Joao Pedro are all given starts. Exactly how the attacking quartet of Welbeck, Pedro, Pascal Gross and Facundo Buonanotte line up ahead of Milner and Billy Gilmour remains to be seen.
Good news on the injury front for the Seagulls as well, with Pervis Estupinan fit enough to make the bench as he tries to return from injury.
Brighton XI: Steele; Hinshelwood, Van Hecke, Dunk, Igor; Gilmour, Milner; Welbeck, Gross, Buonanotte; Pedro
Tottenham XI: Vicario; Porro, Royal, Davies, Udogie; Hojbjerg, Sarr; Johnson, Kulusevski, Son; Richarlison
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments