Opposition watch | A closer look at Brighton ahead of Amex clash

Next up over the festive period, a trip to the south coast and Brighton in the Premier League at the Amex Stadium on Thursday evening (7.30pm UK). Here's a closer look at Roberto De Zerbi's men...

Form

After a superb start - five wins in their first six, including dispatching both Newcastle and Manchester United 3-1 in September - Brighton have hit a comparatively rocky spell with two wins in their last 12, a run that has seen them slip down from third to ninth in the Premier League, although they've lost only four of those 12. Danny Welbeck struck late to grab a draw against Palace at Selhurst Park last time out on 21 December. Meanwhile, in their first European campaign, Brighton topped their Europa League group - a group including Marseille and Ajax - with four wins in six. That has taken them through to the Round of 16 in March.

Players to watch

Joao Pedro, the Brazil forward picked up from Watford, has been the main source of goals with 11 in all competitions so far this season. Indeed, he's Brighton's top scorer and top appearance maker, with 25. Evan Ferguson, still only 19, has weighed in with six goals in 11 starts in the Premier League, he's already into double-figure caps for the Republic of Ireland. At the back, Lewis Dunk is reliable as ever and has started 15 of Brighton's 18 league games so far, alongside fellow long-server Pascal Gross, the pair racking up over 650 career matches between them for the Seagulls. However, Brighton have suffered a double blow with Japan ace Kaoru Mitoma and Ivory Coast midfielder Simon Adingra both sidelined.

Manager - Roberto De Zerbi

An attacking midfielder as a player, De Zerbi began his career at AC Milan in 1998 and went on to play over 200 games across the Italian leagues for the likes of Napoli, Lecce and Brescia, plus a successful spell at CFR Cluj in Romania, where he won two Liga 1 titles, before turning to coaching in 2013. He had spells at Palermo, Benevento and Sassuolo in Serie A, particularly impressing at Sassuolo, a team he guided to two eighth-place finishes. He moved on to Shakhtar Donetsk in 2021, where he won the Ukraine Super Cup, before succeeding Chelsea-bound Graham Potter at Brighton in September, 2022. In his first season, 2022/23, De Zerbi led the Seagulls to sixth in the Premier League and European qualification for the first time, and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Last time we met

Goals from Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane gave us a battling 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April. Sonny scored a sensational right-foot curler to open the scoring, becoming the first Asian player to reach 100 Premier League goals in the process, before Lewis Dunk headed the visitors level in the 33rd minute. But we weren’t to be denied in a game that was tetchy at times, Kane firing home the winner in the 79th minute to give us the three points.

How to follow

Thursday evening's match will be live on Amazon Prime. Live radio coverage comes from talkSPORT2. You can listen to BBC Radio London's commentary via our Match Centre here on tottenhamhotspur.com and the Spurs Official app, where you’ll also find minute-by-minute text, goal alerts, stats and much more. Look out for our social media updates on X and Instagram. Video highlights will be available on SPURSPLAY from 11.30pm, with the full 90 minutes available to watch on demand from midnight. Also, look out for our Review Show with post-match reaction and analysis from presenter Ben Haines on SPURSPLAY and YouTube. Worldwide broadcast listings are available via the link on this page...