Brighton lock horns with Crystal Palace in the Premier League this weekend in a game dubbed the M23 derby.
- Date: 08/02/2026
- Kick-off: 2:00pm
- Location: American Express Stadium, Brighton
Brighton come into the weekend 13th in the table with 7 wins, 10 draws and 7 defeats from 24 Premier League games, scoring 32 and conceding 29, recording averages of 1.45 scored and 1.32 conceded per match, with exactly half of their fixtures (11 of 22 in the latest full split) finishing over 2.5 goals. At the Amex, they have quietly put together a fivd‑match unbeaten run in the league, with one wins and four draws, and have lost only one of their last 16 home league outings, stretching back to last season.
Their underlying metrics back up the sense of a balanced, mildly high‑event team. Their xG is 1.53 per match this season, rising to 1.67 at home, and xG against of 1.42 (1.28 at the Amex), suggesting they usually create slightly more than they concede and that home games tend to carry a bit more attacking punch. Overall, they see over 2.5 goals in 50% of matches and over 1.5 in 92%, while league‑wide BTTS data from last season had Brighton second in the Premier League for BTTS percentage.
Crystal Palace arrive in a more fragile state. The Eagles sit 15th in the league with 29 points, 25 goals scored and 29 conceded. Their 2025-26 xG numbers show an average of 1.33 per match and xG against of 1.37, with slightly better attacking data at home (1.48 xG) than away (1.18), and an away xG‑against of 1.48 that hints at vulnerability on their travels.
Their form overall is atrocious, with Olvier Glasner's side winless in their last 12 games in all competitions, losing four of their last six. They'll hope the arrival of striker Jorgen Strand Larsen from Wolves for an astronomical fee will aid their revival, but their trajectory is one of concern.
With seven of their last ten games seeing BTTS occur, we can be fairly confident of that selection, but there's little in terms of recent form to suggest that Palace will go to rivals Brighton and get a result, with their woes likely to be compounded on the South Coast.
Brighton 2-1 Crystal Palace
