🏏 Sun, 18 Oct 2026 14:00 BST
Brighton & Hove Albion
vs
Crystal Palace
4-2-3-1 vs 3-4-2-1
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Match Preview
- An M23 derby with a 13-point gap in the table behind it: Brighton sit third on 13 points from six games, Crystal Palace 13th on seven. Brighton's goal difference of +13 is the best in the division, ahead of leaders Manchester City on +12, built from 18 goals scored and only five conceded. Second-placed Arsenal are just two points clear of them, while Palace arrive with a goal difference of -3.
- The hosts have won their last three by an aggregate of 10-0: 5-0 away at Coventry on matchday 4, 3-0 at home against Arsenal on matchday 5 and 2-0 at Sunderland last time out. That run followed a far shakier start — a 3-4 defeat at Chelsea and a 1-1 home draw with Leeds — which makes the current run of clean sheets all the more striking.
- Palace have been streaky. A 1-4 home hammering by Manchester City was followed by a 3-2 away win at Fulham, then a 2-3 home loss to Ipswich, a goalless draw at Leeds and a 3-1 home victory over Nottingham Forest. Twelve goals conceded in six matches points to where the visitors remain vulnerable, even if the Forest result restored some momentum.
- Japan international Daichi Kamada, 30, starts as one of the two behind the striker alongside Jeremy Pino. An attacking midfielder who won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt and arrived via Lazio, Kamada also played his part in Palace's 2025 FA Cup triumph. His through-balls and late runs into the box will be aimed at the space either side of Brighton's double pivot.
- Brighton's 4-2-3-1 meets Palace's 3-4-2-1. The home midfield base pairs 21-year-old Chema Andres, a 190cm holding midfielder who came through Real Madrid Castilla before a spell at Stuttgart and won the 2024 Under-19 European Championship with Spain, alongside 35-year-old Pascal Gross, who returned to the club from Borussia Dortmund in January 2026 and remains their set-piece specialist.
- Palace counter with two natural defensive midfielders in the centre. Quinten Timber, 25, the Netherlands international and twin brother of Arsenal's Jurrien, came through Ajax before spells at Utrecht, Feyenoord and Marseille, offering both ball-winning and distribution. Beside him is Adam Wharton, 22, the left-footed England midfielder called into the Euro 2024 squad soon after joining from Blackburn Rovers.
- Jorgen Strand Larsen leads the Palace line. The 193cm Norway international, 26, joined from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a club-record £48m after previous stops at Celta Vigo and Groningen, and his aerial strength is his calling card. He faces a centre-back pairing separated by 15 years: Lewis Dunk, the 192cm one-club Brighton stalwart now 34, and Luka Vuskovic, the 190cm Croatian who debuted for his country at 16 and is still only 19.
- The goalkeeping contrast is stark. Brighton's Bart Verbruggen, 24 and 194cm, came through Anderlecht and is trusted as the first phase of Fabian Hurzeler's build-up thanks to his distribution. Palace's Walter Benitez, 33 and 191cm, won consecutive Eredivisie titles with PSV and has been named a Ligue 1 goalkeeper of the year, giving the visitors a clear edge in experience in that position.
- Palace hold the stronger bench. Jean-Philippe Mateta, the 192cm Frenchman whose goal in the 2025 FA Cup final delivered the club's first major trophy, is joined by the pace of Senegal winger Ismaila Sarr, Eddie Nketiah (38 goals in 168 Arsenal appearances) and Colombia midfielder Jefferson Lerma, who spent five Premier League seasons at Bournemouth. Brighton's main alternative is Denmark's Matt O'Riley, a former Scottish Premiership player of the year at Celtic.