Derren Howard is joined by Brighton writers Sam Morton and Henry Bryant ahead of Albion's Premier League trip to Chelsea. Joao Pedro has been ruled out with an ankle injury but there could be a first outing for £25m summer signing Brajan Gruda.
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00:00Okay, and welcome to another episode of the Goalmouth Action Podcast, where we'll take
00:05a look at all the latest goings-on at Brighton and Hove Albion. I'm Darren Howard and I'm
00:09joined by Brighton writers Sam Morton and Henry Bryant.
00:12Brighton were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League last
00:16Sunday and they also learned who they'll be playing in the fourth round of the Carabao
00:20Cup yesterday.
00:21We'll pick over the bones of Albion's fiery draw against Nottingham Forest and also look
00:27ahead to this Saturday's clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. You can read all the stories
00:31we're talking about with videos and pictures online at sussexworld.co.uk and you can check
00:38out other great videos on shotstv.com and Freeview channel 262. You may also be watching
00:45on latest TV, so thank you very much for tuning in.
00:47But first, we'll take a quick look back at the Nottingham Forest game, Sam. What did
00:53you make of that? It was probably two points dropped in the end, wasn't it?
00:57Yeah, it certainly was two points dropped and another frustrating match for Brighton
01:01who were looking to bounce back after that draw against Ipswich the weekend before. It
01:05was another home match, so they really were looking to get back to winning ways and it
01:11didn't get off to the best of starts with Carlos Bolaiva giving away a penalty with
01:16Chris Wood slossing the penalty high amongst the former Albion striker, making no mistake.
01:21And yeah, they didn't start as they would have wanted to and against a team that hadn't
01:25yet been beaten in Nottingham Forest like Brighton, that's not obviously the start
01:29you want. You want to just get off on the front foot and to start as you mean to go
01:33on. But they did respond quite well and they were dominating the ball and looking to carve
01:38out the opening, which eventually came when Jan-Paul Van Hecker's brilliant cross was
01:43headed in brilliantly by Jack Hinterwood. He was a superb header and Brighton suddenly
01:49looked in the ascendancy and only had to wait another three more minutes to take the
01:53lead with Danny Welbeck scoring a really good free kick. It was his first career free kick
01:59and the first one Brighton had scored since Graham Potter was manager in his final game,
02:03which Alexis McAllister spectacularly scored. So yeah, it was a brilliant moment for Brighton
02:09and they managed to take the lead going into halftime and you felt that they would just
02:12build on that and they would potentially get a third goal and they certainly had the chances
02:15to do that, but they didn't take them. I think the closest they came was Welbeck again. He kind
02:20of weaved in and out of the defenders and managed to get a shot away, but it was well kept out by
02:25the keeper, Sells. But Forest made Brighton pay in the end and they hit them on the counter-attack.
02:31Brighton were caught playing that high line once again and it was Sosa that scored on the
02:37counter-attack for Forest. And yeah, another frustrating point and it all got a little bit
02:42out of hand in the last few minutes of the game with three red cards, including to both managers
02:47after Morgan Gibbs-White went in very late on João Pedro and it was a really late challenge.
02:54He was already on a yellow, so why he made that challenge, I'm not too sure. And it all got very
02:57dramatic with both managers obviously sent off and Gibbs-White was given his second yellow.
03:03I think it all stemmed because the referee initially said he got the ball. It was a fourth
03:08official, but then intervened and said, no, that should have been in red. And I don't think
03:11the Forest camp was too happy about that. And then there was some choice words said,
03:15it's very aggressive from the pictures that were shown on the screens at the time.
03:20So yeah, there was a dramatic end to what was a really frustrating match in the end for Brighton.
03:24Yeah, yeah. No, Herzl was asked, I was at the press conference today for the pre-Chelsea press
03:29conference and Herzl was asked about that tackle again. And he said that the TV, you could see it
03:34on TV, but it wasn't, it doesn't do it justice. If you're there live, you could see, he thought it
03:39was a pretty vicious tackle. And he said that the weight of the challenge when you saw it live was,
03:44was different to what it looked like on TV. Henry, what did you think of the tackle? It was,
03:51you know, and they're going to be about Joe Pedro now and they're already missing Matt O'Reilly
03:55from a similar type of, you know, challenge that he, when he picked up his ankle injury
04:00against Crawley earlier this season. Yeah, well, I think that it was one of those challenges where
04:06there was a lot of frustration in the game at that point where Nottingham Forest, who were
04:10originally 1-0 up and saw themselves 2-1 down by half time, got a goal back in the second half,
04:16were frustrated in the way that they'd sort of let that 1-0 lead slip, I think. I think Brighton,
04:21on the other hand, was, you know, disappointed about conceding 1-0, getting 2-1 at half time
04:29and then not being able to push on in those last 10 minutes to get that goal because it really did
04:33look like it was coming. And Andrew Cross spoke to the media after the game in replacement of
04:39Herzéla after that game and he said that he felt like it was going to be coming for that third goal
04:45and he said that it was a lesson that we needed to learn as a team, that's what he said. I think
04:51that the challenge, although it was a really weighted challenge and there looked like there
04:57was a lot behind it, I don't think that there was any malicious intention to actually hurt
05:03João Pedro and that was sort of echoed by Andrew Crofts as well in the post-match press conference.
05:09But I do think it was definitely worthy of that second yellow and it's really disappointed,
05:15you know, he's already had a knock when he was playing for Brazil that he'd sort of
05:19come out of, he'd only had 20 minutes of that game and he still continued on after that challenge as
05:24well, even though it resulted in basically, you know, three red cards and caused a lot of fiery
05:31reaction at the end of that game. But yeah, it's not looking likely when he's going to be back,
05:37to be honest. The press conference, Herzéla was saying that he's not sure how long he'll be out,
05:43he sort of admitted, but he does think he's a good healer. He's convinced he'll be back soon,
05:49but he's not sure and you went to that as well. Did he, I wanted to ask you as well,
05:55did he sound sure on that or do you think that this could be an issue?
06:00Yeah, it was really like, well, we're going to take this week by week. So it's looking as though
06:04it could be, you know, and when you say week by week, it's, you know, you start to think,
06:08oh, is that going to be three weeks, four weeks or how long? We don't know. But it is a shame for
06:14Pedro because he'd started the season so well and he was looking like Albion's best attacker,
06:19wasn't he? Against, you know, he got the goals against Man United and Arsenal and they're going
06:24to miss him, aren't they, Sam, at Chelsea? Yeah. Yeah, it's bad news for my fantasy team as well.
06:28I'd only just put him in and pull that knock against Brazil. And then he's only played,
06:33obviously, about 10 minutes since then. I've had to take him out again. So there's a waste of
06:37transfer. But yeah, it is a shame really because he's made such a good start to the season and
06:41he's such an important player for Brighton. And he really does make a difference. You felt like
06:46when he came on against Boris, you kind of got that sense of anticipation of what he might do
06:51and might create that opening and obviously didn't happen on the day. And unfortunately,
06:55we're not going to see it for a while by the sounds of it. So hopefully it's not too long
06:58and he'll be back in action soon. But yeah, definitely a really disappointing blow to
07:03Brighton. Yeah, yeah. What have you made of Chelsea, Henry? They looked good, didn't they,
07:09against West Ham last season, last week, 3-0 victory there. And they've just got so many
07:14attacking options, haven't they? And Nicholas Jackson, he looks, you know, he looks a complete
07:20package these days, doesn't he? Definitely. I don't know what Enzo Maresco's been doing,
07:26but he does look like a really good side at the moment. They're showing so much,
07:31you know, in terms of promising signs and they're currently in fifth with 10 points. And yeah,
07:37you've got to say from the way that it looked in the summer transfer window, in terms of the fact
07:43that there were loads of people on the sort of training sort of facilities, it looked like it
07:48was a big jumbled mess. The media was saying, what's going on? It's going to be another one
07:52of those seasons where they've signed so many players and they've got so much of a, you know,
07:57big team, they're not going to be able to cope. But Maresco's really sort of rising up to that
08:01challenge in these first few games. I have been impressed with him. I think obviously with that
08:053-0 victory against a sort of struggling West Ham side at the moment, I think that, you know,
08:12it looked good. And I think that Brighton are going to be, you know, having a real challenge
08:16on their hands here. I think in terms of the way Chelsea have been, this is some of the best form
08:20that they've had in ages, really. And in terms of the Chelsea game, Chelsea won both of their
08:26Premier League meetings with Brighton last season, despite having a player sent off in each game.
08:32And interestingly, although Chelsea won all three of their Premier League away games this season,
08:38they're winless at Stamford Bridge at the moment in the Premier League, drawing one and losing one.
08:43So, it could be an interesting one. They'll be really up for trying to make this a fortress
08:47this season. So, I do think that this will be an all-guns-blazing attack. And we know how tasty
08:52it is, especially with the amount of transfers that, you know, Brighton have been able to sort
08:58of, you know, get Chelsea, you know, and vice versa. So, yeah, we'll see.
09:04Yeah, yeah. Well, I think there were four, well, if you include Levi Colwell,
09:08there were four ex-Brighton players in the team against West Ham. So, you had Sanchez in goal,
09:13Cowell at the back, Moises Caicedo and also Kukerea as well. So, I'm sure that will add
09:20a bit of extra spice, won't it, Sam, to the fixture, especially for the fans.
09:26I think so.
09:27Brighton can go there with confidence after, you know,
09:30the performance at Arsenal, that they can take a lot from that, I think.
09:34Absolutely. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to this match, actually. It should be a really good
09:37one between, yeah, two sides that obviously are in decent form. I think, obviously, Brighton will
09:43be really frustrated with those two draws, but they're still unbeaten. So, they'll still take
09:47that into the game at Chelsea. And as you say, with the confidence of knowing that they took
09:52a point from Arsenal at the Emirates, so they can certainly do that away at Chelsea as well.
09:57As you say, they obviously didn't have much luck against Chelsea last season in those three games,
10:02including the defeat in the League Cup. But before that, it was a run of five Premier League
10:08games without a win against Brighton for Chelsea. They were really struggling against them until
10:12last season. So, you wonder kind of how it will be this time out. But I think, yeah, it should
10:17be a really good game. Obviously, with Jair Pedro out, you're kind of looking at Danny Welbeck to
10:20continue his brilliant form. Hopefully, Rutter will start to show his best. I don't necessarily
10:26think he's a prolific goalscorer, but he hasn't yet shown, I think, the full extent of what he
10:32can do and what he didn't lead. And he may have found so devastated when he left. So, I don't
10:37think we've quite seen that side just yet, but I think there's still stuff to come. And the same
10:41with Evan Ferguson as well, coming back from injury, he showed some decent signs against Wolves
10:46in the Carabao Cup. So, I think, yeah, there's definitely an opportunity for these Brighton
10:51players, with Jair Pedro out, because they're so stacked in those attacking areas. I think he needs
10:55to start at Stamford Bridge to get the confidence going again. And they've got to get these goals,
11:00because that was the problem, really, obviously, against Nottingham Forest. And then, obviously,
11:07they managed to get a couple of goals against Forest, but were a bit leaky at the back. So,
11:10they need to find that balance and to get a good result.
11:14Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's that high line, isn't it, that Herzele likes. If it works,
11:18it's great, isn't it? They're catching, you can press high up the field and really put the
11:24pressure on the opposition, but they're always a bit vulnerable, aren't they, at the back?
11:28Yeah, it could be a worry against Chelsea. I think, with the form that Jackson's in,
11:31we saw at the West Ham, that he could take advantage of that high line, because he's
11:35obviously a very quick player. And if he's now starting to show his clinical edge, which we've
11:40not really seen until now, if he can start putting those chances away, then it could be dangerous
11:45against Brighton. So, yeah, hopefully, they tighten that defensive frailty up a little bit.
11:50Yeah, yeah. Well, thanks, guys. Join us after the break, and we'll be having more of a look at the
11:56match at Chelsea and also looking at the Carabao Cup tie as well. Okay, well, thanks for joining
12:03us again. So, Henry, obviously, Stamford Bridge this Saturday for Brighton. You're going to be
12:09there. What are you looking forward to most about this match? Is there any match-ups that you think
12:16could be worth keeping an eye on this Saturday?
12:19Well, I think Cole Palmer against our defence, because, obviously,
12:23that game previously in the Premier League, one of the Derby's last games, he scored a really
12:29nice header against us. And I thought that, you know, maybe we could have done a bit better in
12:35sort of the zonal marking. So, it'll be interesting to see how Fabio Herzegova sort of sets his team
12:41up to sort of thwart this talent that he's, you know, got, because that'll be, you know,
12:46a real spicy one. I just think, in terms of excitement as well, the fact that it's going to
12:51be such an unexpected rivalry, you know, of the past few seasons. And if you're a neutral, you
12:58don't really watch too much of the Premier League and you accidentally turn this on or stumble
13:01across this game, you're going to be thinking, what on earth is going on? But that's the best
13:06thing about it. There's a lot of tension here and Brighton have all the facilities to beat Chelsea.
13:12We've seen them beat Chelsea convincingly. We've seen, obviously, Chelsea beat us, obviously,
13:17the last two games that we've played against them. But I do think Brighton have got a really
13:22good chance here. I think that Jean-Paul van Geck, he'll be really looking to thwart that attack. I
13:29think Nicholas Jackson versus Jean-Paul van Geck and just tracking back and seeing how he deals
13:34with the pace will be a really interesting one. As we spoke about in previous podcasts,
13:40and we predicted that he'll be one of the best defenders in the league. And I think he has been
13:45doing quite well. I know that we have been leaky in defence, but I do think that's due to the fact
13:50that we've got these new tactics, which is, like you say, Darren, catching loads of people out.
13:57But at the same time, it is allowing these sort of rare, clear-cut chances that we really need
14:04to look out for, especially with the quality that Chelsea have, the form that they are looking to be
14:09having in these first few games of the season. And I'm also excited, hopefully,
14:14to be seeing Gruda from Mainz. He's got a £20 million signing and hopefully he'll be available
14:21with the absence of João Pedro in the squad. And from a lot of followers of the Bundesliga,
14:28they said that last season he was one of the ones to watch and was a really entertaining player. So,
14:34it looks really good for Brighton and I'm hoping that he can make a quick start and a fast impact
14:38on quite a big game for his first one, if he does get the minutes, either in the starting XI or as a
14:43sub. Here's a key game for Matouma and Dindga as well, assuming that those two will be the
14:49wingers. Because I know that Dindga obviously came in for Minter. Would you keep Dindga in,
14:55Sam? I would. Yeah, I think he was brilliant against Wolves in that Carabao Cup match. And
15:00he didn't necessarily show that same form against Forest, but I think he'll be really vital against
15:05Chelsea. Obviously, Minter is another really good option as well. I know, obviously, he
15:10started well and he's kind of faded away a little bit and he looks a little bit raw still in terms
15:16of a Premier League player. I thought that you're definitely going to get these mixed performances
15:20from him. But I thought that as a bench option would be really useful. I think stick with the
15:24experience of Dindga for this one. And Matouma as well, I'm looking to see more from him and get
15:29back to his electric vest as well, because he looked really good against Forest. I think he
15:34was actually picked out by the Matchday Pundits as the star man. Yeah, he looked really good.
15:39Yeah, he did look really good. So I really want to see more of that. I think he could be really
15:43key against Chelsea. Yeah. And with Brazian Gruda hopefully coming in as well, that would be his
15:49first appearance in a Matchday squad since he joined for £25m from Mainz. And he looks to be
15:57one of those technically very good players that Brighton tend to bring in who can operate in a
16:02number of positions, you know, in the attacking lineup, Henry. So he's going to be a real asset,
16:08isn't he, in this Chelsea game and probably the games to come as well?
16:14Absolutely. We saw last season whilst we were playing in a European competition last season,
16:20and that sort of attributed to the amount of injuries and the amount of losses that we did
16:25have in the squad at times, which did bear us quite thin. I think it's great to have these
16:30players where they can play a number of different positions around their area and be able to perform
16:37and perform well. And that's very similar, actually, to what Jack Kinchelwood's like.
16:41I mean, we've seen him from defence to that midfield and Andrew Croft said as well after the
16:47post-match press conference against Nottingham Forest that he's such a quality player in all
16:52positions and that's why he's so valuable to Brighton. I think as well, we haven't seen a lot
16:58of it yet, but Ferdi Kadioglu, I think he's one of those players as well that can sort of rotate
17:03into different positions wherever you need him. And I think with the goal that Brighton have in
17:08mind of, you know, getting to that next step and going back into Europe for, you know, a second
17:15season in their history, I think these are the players that are going to be so crucial and those
17:19creative players like Gruda will be the difference between us, you know, just missing out on a
17:25European competition and actually having the, you know, sort of a comfort of securing Europe
17:30early on before sort of the end of the season and sort of get the points that we need, not have
17:37a real struggle to try and have an uphill battle to fight for that. So I think he'll be really good
17:43and I'm just excited to see what he can do. Yeah, now that we're into the sort of the season,
17:49you can really see the depth of the squad now that Brighton have built, can't you? When you
17:53look at Cadioglu who could come in and I thought he would start last week against Nottingham Forest,
17:58but Josella went for Purvis Estupinan and when on the left-hand side Estupinan and Matoma link up,
18:05that's one of the best combinations, isn't it, in the Premier League by the looks of it,
18:09Sam? Do you think he'll stick with Estupinan or do you think Cadioglu will come in down there?
18:15It's difficult to call, isn't it? I think Cadioglu could come in. I think Estupinan is still
18:19still not quite at his best. Obviously he's coming back from injury and he's obviously still
18:24getting that game time back. He certainly didn't have his best of games against Nottingham Forest
18:29in a defensive sense. So I think I feel like Cadioglu could come in. He could potentially be
18:34a really good option. But just to have that kind of backup is exactly what they were missing last
18:39season. They were often the players who were maybe out of form or been playing too many games,
18:44but there's just nothing they could do about it because there's not really anyone that could come
18:46in. So I feel like it's real positive that they can rotate in these games, really. I wouldn't be
18:53adverse to Estupinan starting again. Obviously, I'm sure that he will improve with more minutes
18:58and you'll see that partnership with Toma getting better with time and link up as brilliantly as
19:03they have done over the seasons, really. But I think, yeah, Cadioglu would be good to see him
19:08from the start after the glimpses that we've seen from him. So, yeah, it all bodes well in terms of
19:14the squad. And as you've seen with the injuries to Jal Pedro and Midfield injuries, they've done,
19:19they've coped with it, really. And obviously, we've seen that Midfield has changed quite a bit.
19:24Yassine Iari actually missed the game against Nottingham Forest. So I assume he'll be back.
19:30And I've been really impressed with him in stepping up to the plate with those injuries to
19:34Matt Swiffer and Matt Rielly and Cadioglu as well. So I feel like there's so many options
19:39that Hazard can go with and keep the opposition guessing.
19:41Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. When you mentioned Matt Swiffer, I spoke to, Bart Verbruggen came in
19:47to the press conference today and I asked him about Matt Swiffer because he's quite a strong
19:52Dutch link now, isn't there, in the Brighton side with Veltman, Verbruggen, Van Hecker and
19:57that's Matt Swiffer. And he even included Cadioglu in the Dutch connection as well.
20:04From Holland as well. But yeah, he thinks, Verbruggen was saying that he thinks that we
20:11we've only seen a glimpse of Matt Swiffer, but when he's up and running, he sort of spoke about
20:16the qualities that he has as a midfield player and what he expects him to bring to the Premier League.
20:23And again, Henry, it just highlights the depth that they have and the decisions that
20:27Hersele has to make in that midfield, isn't it? If Milner's fit, if Hinshelwood's fit,
20:32you've got Matt Swiffer, O'Reilly to come back. It's a very strong, strong midfield, isn't it?
20:38Yeah, it's exciting as a fan to see this many options on the table, really. I think we've had
20:44such a fantastic transfer window and signing that amount of players has been really good to see,
20:51especially with the fact that we're mainly a selling club. So in terms of the way that
20:56Brighton have been able to go about their business, it's been good. I think one thing
21:00that fans would have maybe have liked a little bit more is maybe more sort of Premier League
21:06experience because of with the likes of Matt Swiffer, Jakuba Minta, that was at Newcastle
21:11but never played a single game. I think that these players that are coming in, they do need
21:17that Premier League experience and you do run the risk, especially with some of the players
21:23maybe not having their best games and needing a little bit more experience just to get up to
21:28speed and sort of become that Premier League season's player that we need. So in terms of
21:35terms of the way that Brighton are doing it, I think that it's really exciting to see,
21:39but we are going to have to get the former final man on the pitch. I think a good link-up will be
21:46Weiffer and Minta as well. I think that'll be great. I'm looking forward to seeing that a
21:51little bit more and hopefully just like Estupinant and Matoma, that could be another link-up that we
21:56see the two former final boys doing the business and do well for Brighton.
22:02Yeah, I think you have to be a bit patient with Minta, doesn't he? He's his first one in the
22:06Premier League. I was looking back at his stats last season at Feyenoord and he had a slow start
22:12for them last season and it was the second part of the campaign where he really kicked on and
22:17started delivering what we know that he can. So hopefully him and Rutter and Minta and players
22:25like Weiffer will develop as the season goes on. But yeah, just coming away from the Premier League
22:33and dropping to the Carabao Cup, it was confirmed that Brighton will have a home draw against
22:39Liverpool in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup. Liverpool beat West Ham, was it 5-1 in the end,
22:46wasn't it? They were 1-0 down and then West Ham just crumbled really, didn't they, at Anfield.
22:53That's a good draw, isn't it? That should get fans excited and I think it would mean
22:58Brighton playing Liverpool twice within four days. I think they've got them in the league
23:03and then they've got them in the Carabao Cup as well. So that's going to be a tough
23:07ask, Sam, for Brighton, isn't it?
23:10Yeah, certainly will. Liverpool had a mostly really good start to the season. They had that
23:14blip obviously against Nottingham Forest where they lost against the odds. But apart from that,
23:19they've been really ruthless. I think Luis Diaz has been exceptional so far this season.
23:24He's certainly one that's going to cause some problems. And yeah, they've obviously been
23:28ruthless against West Ham, obviously with Jota getting two goals, Gappo getting two goals,
23:32Salah getting one. And Diaz wasn't even involved in the goals in that sense. So it's one of those
23:38things where they've got so many options in those attacking areas and such quality as well. I think
23:43Arnaud Slot has just come in and just continued where Jürgen Klopp left off really. He hasn't
23:49changed too much. I feel like he doesn't want to change what Klopp has done and the foundations
23:53that he's laid at Liverpool really. So it's been a good start to the season for Liverpool. And
23:58yeah, I think for Brighton it's a really tough, tough match, obviously playing them twice in
24:01quick succession. It'll be interesting to see how it goes, obviously starting off with that
24:05trip to Anfield, which is one of the toughest places to go, and then playing them again at
24:09home in the Cup. So yeah, fingers crossed they can get a good result in the league and that
24:15would obviously give them the confidence for the Cup game.
24:17Yeah, yeah. I'm sure there'll be lots of changes, won't they, from the Premier League
24:21team to the Carabao team. But yeah, a good one to look forward to. But thanks very much for
24:27joining us, guys. Always great to get your input on all things Brighton. And don't forget to look
24:32at the Sussex World website and our newspapers for the best place to get all your Brighton,
24:37Hove Albion coverage. But thanks, guys.