Brighton vs Luton Town - Match Preview
By Peter Bulkeley
Updated Friday, 2nd November 2007
Saturday sees Luton travel down to the Withdean Stadium to take on Brighton & Hove Albion
Team News
Luton
The main team news for Luton concerns the fitness of striker Paul Furlong, and unfortunately the news isn't good. Furlong has picked up a hamstring injury during the defeat to
Everton in the League Cup on Wednesday, and he will now more than likely be out for some time, and will certainly miss the Brighton trip. The strikers position is a big concern for Kevin Blackwell, as Paul Peschisolido and Sam Parkin are both still out injured as well, and Drew Talbot is still having problems with a virus. Therefore, the only out and out striker that Blackwell has at his disposal is Calvin Andrew. 20 year-old Andrew isn't really suited to leading the line on his own, as Furlong has been doing in recent weeks, as he doesn't really win as many headers as Furlong, and probably has the same amount of pace as Furlong as well. If Blackwell decides to play another striker, then Dean Morgan or Paul McVeigh are the players most likely to partner Calvin up front, although don't rule out young Ryan Charles, although at 18 years old, he is about 20 years too young for this team. We have actually got another player contracted with Luton who might do well up front, although
Millwall have actually got him at the moment.
Elsewhere in the team, the usual suspects are out injured. Richard Langley has still got his long-term injury problem, Paul Underwood and Paul Hughes have their long-term illnesses and Keith Keane is thought to be on the road to recovery, but is not yet ready for first-team football again. With no loan goalkeeper needlessly brought in, Blackwell will keep Dean Brill in the team for Saturday, and there will be no keeper on the bench as usual. The defence is unlikely to be changed as well. It seems that Chris Perry has fitted in quite well to his new right-back position, so should retain that role. Chris Coyne's knees are still surviving, so the only current legend not to have fallen victim of Blackwell's cull (unless Robinson is included) should continue with Jaroslaw Fojut. Midfield should see Spring, Bell and Currie carry on at least, but the other position may depend on whether Blackwell deploys Andrew on his own up front. David Edwards may yet again have the job of moving forward to support Andrew, with Robinson acting as a holding midfielder again.
Predicted Team
Brill (GK), Goodall (DL), Perry (DR), Fojut (DC), Coyne (DC) (capt), Currie (ML), Bell (MR), Spring (MC), Robinson (MC), Edwards (MC), Andrew (SC)
Brighton
Brighton forward Alex Revell is definitely out of tomorrow's match because of a hernia operation that the striker underwent earlier today. This means that former Reading strikers Nicky Forster or Bas Savage could be in contention for a starting place instead of Revell. Other than that, Brighton manager Dean Wilkins only has the fitness of midfielder George O'Callaghan and defender Joel Lynch to worry about. O'Callaghan could make the team after a hamstring problem, and Joel Lynch played an hour for Brighton reserves in midweek.
Despite winning the first three league home matches of the season, Brighton haven't won at home in the league since September, when they beat Millwall 3-0. They are still 8th in the league though, mainly thanks to some very good away form, which has most recently seen them win at Hartlepool, and the Seagulls have just as good an away record as they do at home. It is fortunate for them that they are  | Revell: Misses out |
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playing Luton on Saturday, and not just because of us playing 120 minutes on Wednesday night. With no home league win in three matches, manager Dean Wilkins will probably be getting worried about home form, but Crewe hadn't won in six games before they played us, so don't worry Brighton fans, Luton will put an end to your recent lacklustre home form. Top scorers for the Seagulls this season are Dean Cox and Dean Hammond, with four goals each, with Revell, Savage and Forster behind them with two goals each. No one player has managed to get going for Brighton in terms of goalscoring this season, although they do seem to at least have a number of players who are capable of scoring goals when the opportunity arises. The Brighton official website thinks that the Brighton team will be:
Kuipers, Whing, Elphick, El-Abd, Richards, Martot, Fraser, Hammond, Cox, Savage and Robinson.
The Brighton official website also has an almost accurate view of what the team will be for Luton tomorrow, with the only contentious issue being the formation of 4-4-2, and Edwards being dropped instead of McVeigh up front. Although knowing Blackwell, he may do something like that anyway.
Connections
 | Steve Foster wonders where he left his headband |
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There are an extremely high number of players that have played or featured for both teams, and the only one who will be making an appearance tomorrow on the pitch is Luton midfielder Darren 'Linford' Currie. Currie had a spell at Brighton in the 2004 season, where he played 23 matches and scored 2 goals before moving to Ipswich halfway through the season. It won't surprise many football fans that Steve Claridge is another player who has played for Luton and Brighton, amongst about 100 other teams in the country. One of the most notable people to have played at Brighton and Luton is Steve Foster. Fozzie is of course famous for captaining Luton to the League Cup Final victory in 1988 over
Arsenal. However, Foster's other main club was Brighton, where he spent five seasons at the start of his career, and four seasons at the end as well. He made 172 appearances for the Seagulls, scoring six goals, and during his time at Brighton he also played three times for England, and was a member of the 1982 World Cup squad. He moved to Luton via
Aston Villa in 1984, where he went on to make a formidable defensive partnership with Mal Donaghy. Another League Cup hero, Danny Wilson, has played for both teams, and Luton legend John Moore has apparently played for Brighton as well, as well as legend from this decade Kevin Nicholls. Harry Haslam played for Brightonback in the 40's before managing Luton about thirty years later. The full list of players I know who have played for both teams can be found below. There is far too many players to list in detail, and players such as Chris Allen, Kurt Nogan and Juergen Sommer frankly don't deserve to be described in detail.
Chris Allen, Steve Claridge, Darren Currie, Paul Dickov, Steve Foster, Tony Grealish, Harry Haslam, John Moore, Kevin Nicholls, Kurt Nogan, Andy Petterson, Ben Roberts, Simon Royce, Juergen Sommer and Danny Wilson.
Past Meetings
Luton have an extremely dismal record at Brighton. The teams have met each other 59 times, with 30 meetings at Brighton, and Luton have won just 3 of those 30 matches; the last occasion being in the David Pleat season in 1983. Luton's home record against Brighton is significantly better, with 19 wins compared to Brighton's two victories at Kenilworth Road. The last meeting between the two sides at the Withdean Stadium can only be described using one word: wet. In a rainy match at the Withdean, Gifton Noel-Williams opened the scoring after about 20 minutes for Brighton, when most Luton fans were quite wet, and Steve Robinson equalised around the hour mark, by which point the Luton fans present were completely drenched. I can't even remember much of the match, except that it was very wet. The last time Brighton won at home to Luton was two seasons earlier in 2003, in a game most notable for Mike Newell attempting to tackle a Brighton player and getting sent to the stands as a result, and for Steve Howard getting sent off. For more information on meetings between the two teams, click on this link.
Prediction
I haven't seen a match for a while that I think we have absolutely no chance of getting anything out of. With Furlong out, we have limited goal threats, and we still look unable to keep a clean sheet, except for in the League Cup of course. Add to that the inevitable fatigue of players after the defeat to Everton, and there is a recipe for disaster. I hope I am wrong, but 2-0 to Brighton.
