Tottenham vs. Brighton Predictions: Two best bets as Spurs bid to extend lead in the race for fourth

Tottenham are looking to hold on to the vital fourth spot in the table as they take on Brighton in the first Premier League game in a busy weekend of action.

Spurs won the meeting between the sides earlier this season 2-0, and they will be looking for a similar result here to remain in front of their top four rivals. Their opponents Brighton handed the initiative to Spurs in the Champions League race by beating Arsenal 2-1 in their last match. Arsenal were clear favourites for fourth spot just a couple of weeks ago, but consecutive defeats for the Gunners has put Conte’s men in the driving seat.

Conte’s side come into this match in fine goalscoring form and are spearheaded by the inform Heung-min Son and the ever-present Harry Kane. Spurs have scored 25 goals in their last 7 league matches and I’m expecting them to carry the same attacking threat in this match.

Both teams have very little injury worries. Spurs will have their first choice front three of Son, Kane and Kulusevski. While Brighton are expected to play with a back five, utilising the pace of Tariq Lamptey and Leandro Trossard.

Tottenham won their last match 4-0 against Aston Villa, but despite the convincing score line, Gerrard’s team were able to create some opportunities of their own. Villa had a whopping 19 shots in the match and forced 9 goal kicks from their opponents. 

Brighton are capable of causing problems in the same manner that Villa did, so I’m happy to back Spurs goal kicks again here. The recent numbers for Spurs also support the thinking behind this bet. Spurs are averaging over 7 goal kicks per game in their last 10 matches in all competitions. Brighton opponents are averaging over 8 goal kicks per game in their last 10 matches and the required mark for this bet has landed in 9 of those 10 matches.

The shot numbers are also positive reading for this bet. Brighton are averaging over 13 shots per game in their last 10 matches and they managed to have 15 shots when these sides met earlier this season. Spurs opponents are averaging just under 13 shots per game in their last 10 matches; both numbers are comfortably above the required line here.

For the longer odds bet. I’ll take the same angles used in our main bet and increase the lines to get a bigger price. As previously mentioned, I really feel as though Brighton are capable of causing Spurs some problems. Potter’s side are safe from relegation and should enjoy playing without pressure in the final weeks of the season. As a result, I can really see them having a good go here.

I will also be adding Spurs to be caught offside at least once in the match. Spurs have been caught offside once or more in 8 of their last 10 matches and the same is true of Brighton opponents.