Express & Star

Brighton v West Brom: Inside track on Graham Potter's side

West Brom face Brighton this evening as they continue to search for their first Premier League win.

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Brighton and Hove Albion's Alexis Mac Allister

With that in mind, we spoke with the team at We Are Brighton, to get a proper look at The Seagulls.

See what they had to say here...

How has the start of the season treated Brighton, have there been promising signs?

We have played some excellent football without getting the results we deserve.

Chelsea needed a deflection and a penalty to beat us at the Amex and the defeat to Manchester United was frankly ridiculous. Who else gets a penalty after the final whistle has blown following eight minutes of added time other than United?

What has been letting us down is that we struggle to put the ball in the back of the net. It's all very well recording over 65% possession and having 20 shots as we did against Crystal Palace last weekend, but when only three of those shots are on target, being so dominant becomes a little pointless.

That's why the signing of Danny Welbeck is so intriguing. If Brighton can get him fit, he should thrive on the sort of service that the supply line have been delivering so far.

Manchester United's Donny van de Beek (left) and Brighton and Hove Albion's Pascal Gross

Who are the big danger men for the Baggies to worry about on Monday?

Tariq Lamptey has taken most of the headlines so far - which is very much deserved.

He's the perfect fit for Graham Potter's 3-4-1-2 at right wing back as he's as good going forward as he is defensively. I'd be absolutely stunned if he isn't bought for a seriously big number next summer.

What kind of football can we expect to see from Graham Potter's side?

We will have a lot of the ball but if West Brom defend deep then we may struggle to break the Baggies down, as we saw in that mind numbingly boring pre-season friendly.

There's a real weakness in defending set pieces at the moment. That might be West Brom's best route to scoring.

What kind of transfer business did the Seagulls do over the window and what have you made of that business?

The club took a slightly different approach in this window and seemed to direct most of their focus on hoovering up some of the best young talents in Europe for the Under 23s.

Obviously, there's a huge amount of risk attached to that as you relying on those players reaching their potential - and even if they do, it won't bear fruit for a couple of years.

Graham Potter

In terms of first team signings, the business has been very shrewd.

We picked up Adam Lallana, Welbeck and Dutch defender Joel Veltman from Ajax for a total outlay of £900,000. Nobody can complain about picking up three full internationals for less than a million pounds, especially as they all bring leadership and experience to one of the youngest squads in the Premier League.

What's your predicted XI for the game and are there any injury worries?

You have got more chance of correctly picking the lottery numbers than you have of predicting a Potter starting XI.

We have had line ups featuring four centre backs, four central midfielders and three right wingers before - and we don't even play with wingers.

On the injury front, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Davy Pröpper are both unlikely to feature. Lewis Dunk is also suspended for his attempted GBH on Gary Cahill.

Brighton and Hove Albion's Lewis Dunk

Losing our captain and best player is a serious blow, even if he has been a little below his ridiculously high standards over recent weeks.

What have you made of West Brom from afar? Do you think they have what it takes to survive in the PL this season?

The gap between Premier League and Championship seems to be widening all the time and I think that bridging it this summer is particularly challenging.

West Brom haven't had much rest since a gruelling 46 game season and the shortened summer means that improving a squad with new signings is also much more difficult.

I hope West Brom survive though, if for no other reason than I don't think there is another away stand in the country that sells brandy like the Hawthorns does.

It was much needed on our last league visit in January 2018 when the Baggies strolled to a 2-0 win.

Your match prediction?

After playing Chelsea and Manchester United, this is our first 'winnable' home league game of the season.

Brighton need to start putting points on the board rather than just getting plaudits for their football, and fingers crossed we can do it on Monday.

2-1 to Brighton.

You can follow We Are Brighton on Twitter here. You can visit their website here, too.