StonehamPark
#Brighton-Nil
Newcastle United Vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Date: 27th August, 2016
Kick Off: 17:30
Stadium: St. James' Park
Match Officials
Keith Stroud
James Mainwaring and Nick Greenhalgh
Andrew Madley
Newcastle United strikers Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dwight Gayle miss out with concussion following Tuesday's EFL Cup win against Cheltenham.
Ayoze Perez could feature up front on his own, but winger Rolando Aarons is also absent after he fractured a metatarsal in his foot.
Bruno is expected to replace Brighton right-back Liam Rosenior, who misses out with an ankle injury.
New signing Shane Duffy could make his debut at centre-back.
Boss Chris Hughton will make a decision whether to include midfielder Dale Stephens, who has been the subject of transfer interest from Burnley.
Analysis
BBC Sussex's Johnny Cantor: "Boosted by the arrival of Blackburn centre-back Shane Duffy, Brighton will be hoping to nullify Newcastle's attacking options.
"In Anthony Knockaert, the Seagulls have their own wing wizard who the Magpies have been keen to lure to the north east during this transfer window.
"Manager Chris Hughton should receive a warm welcome on his return to St James' Park, having successfully led them back to the Premier League in 2009-10. Now his focus is to achieve promotion with Brighton."
Match Facts
- Dwight Gayle is the Championship's leading scorer with four goals in four games so far. He has already netted more league goals in 2016-17 than 2015-16 (3 in 16 games).
- Anthony Knockaert has scored in three successive league games for the first time in his Football League career.
- Newcastle have scored with their last three shots on target in the league; the last time that they did this was in October 2015 when they scored with six successive shots on target (all in the game v Norwich).
- Excluding play-off games, Brighton are unbeaten in their last 18 league matches, winning 11.
NSC's Match Preview
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COYS!!
