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New on Sports Illustrated: Brighton & Hove Albion-West Brom Preview

Sam Allardyce is aiming to expose Brighton and Hove Albion's weak points in order to keep West Brom's slim Premier League survival hopes alive.

It was a familiar story for Brighton last time out as they outshot rivals Crystal Palace 25-3 yet lost 2-1 to a last-gasp strike from Christian Benteke.

Brighton's failure to stick away more of their chances has cost them on countless occasions this season and they enter Saturday's clash just four points above the relegation zone.

West Brom are 11 points from safety, meanwhile, but Allardyce is hoping to close that gap with victory at The Hawthorns this weekend.

"The only reason Brighton are not in the top eight is because they haven't got a goalscorer," Allardyce said. "They create more chances for where they are in the league than any of us in that bottom 10. People were saying how did Crystal Palace win with just two shots on target, but it showed some of Brighton's frailties, what you could do on counter-attacking to a very attacking side.

"The failure to win that game for Brighton must have been very disappointing, particularly on that performance, but what it shows us where those weaknesses may be."

Brighton have defeated Liverpool and Tottenham in recent weeks, but a failure to beat Burnley, Aston Villa and Palace in their last three games has left them in the relegation mix.

"We are where we are in the table, we know the situation," head coach Graham Potter said. "We've got 13 matches to play which gives us 39 points to play for. We've been in a relegation battle for months - that's the narrative of the Premier League when you're there in the table, that's what you can't get away from.

"We know the situation we're in, we know we haven't got the points we need. We need more and that's what we're going to try and get."

KEY PLAYERS

West Brom - Matheus Pereira

Allardyce's side squandered some good opportunities in last week's stalemate with Burnley, the best of which fell to Pereira.

The 24-year-old has a credible five goals and three assists in his first Premier League campaign to date, but he has not been directly involved in a goal in his last four games.

Brighton - Neal Maupay

After scoring four goals in his first four Premier League appearances this season, Maupay has since netted just three times in his subsequent 19 top-flight outings.

That includes another blank in last week's loss to Palace, though 71 per cent of the striker's league goals in 2020-21 have come away from home (5/7).

KEY OPTA FACTS

- West Brom have never lost in 10 previous home league meetings with Brighton (W6 D4) - the most times they have faced an opponent at home in the Football League without ever suffering defeat.

- Allardyce's side are winless in their last seven Premier League games (D3 L4), and also their last seven Premier League home games (D2 L5). The Baggies have conceded a league-high 55 Premier League goals so far this season.

- All four of Brighton's games against teams starting the day in the relegation zone this season have ended in a draw, with three of those finishing goalless.

- Brighton's first eight away league games this season saw 24 goals scored, at an average of three per game (F11 A13). The Seagulls' last four on the road have seen just five goals scored, just over one per game (F3 A2).

- Against no side has West Brom manager Sam Allardyce faced more often without losing in English league football than he has Brighton (9 - W6 D3). The Seagulls are also one of just two sides Allardyce has beaten in each of the top four tiers of English football, along with Cardiff City.

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