Tottenham won't do Chris Hughton any favours

Premier League
Sky Sports Premier League, 7.45pm Tuesday

Chris Hughton is a Tottenham legend but the Brighton boss cannot bank on any favours from his old club when relegation-threatened Albion host Spurs at the Amex.

Brighton look safe on paper, sitting in 13th place with 35 points and on the cusp of the probable survival target, but they may still need another result to sleep easy during a difficult run-in.

A home game with Spurs is followed by a trip to Burnley before a nightmare May in which Albion host Manchester United and then head to Manchester City and Liverpool in the final two rounds of fixtures.

One glance at that schedule should be enough to make Hughton nervy, possibly praying that Southampton maintain their poor results, and a beating looks the most likely outcome even if Tottenham rotate with one eye on Saturday's FA Cup semi-final with Manchester United.

How Manchester City were crowned Premier League champions

Visiting boss Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed he will make changes but among those looking to come in from Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Manchester City are Heung-Min Son, Lucas Moura, Serge Aurier and forgotten man Toby Alderweireld.

Spurs can't go totally second string as they won't want to give Chelsea any further encouragement in the race for Champions League qualification. The gap, which stands at seven points, could potentially get too close for comfort if things go wrong at the Amex.

A mix-and-match side should get the job done - let's not forget some considered them favourites against City on Saturday - and they have not become a bad side after a deserved defeat to the champions.

City are the only Premier League team to have beaten Spurs since the start of December. They had won six league games on the spin prior to the City loss, and were unbeaten in 14 too, a run that included a 2-2 draw at Liverpool and 3-1 triumph at Chelsea.

It's difficult to be confident about exactly which of Tottenham's first-teamers will be given the night off, but they bat pretty deep these days and Brighton go into this contest following a 3-2 defeat at Crystal Palace which made it three losses in four for Albion.

Hughton has prided himself on being a solid defensive coach who makes his side difficult to breach. However, Brighton's only clean sheet in 16 matches in 2018 came against Sky Bet Championship outfit Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.

The Seagulls have lost all seven matches against the top five this season in all competitions and six of those were by at least two goals, including home clashes with City (2-0), Liverpool (5-1) and Chelsea (4-0).

Recommendation
Tottenham -1 on Asian handicap
1pt 7-8 188Bet

Premier League standings

Bet on this game at Soccerbase.com

Team news
Brighton
Davy Propper remains suspended. Izzy Brown and Steve Sidwell are injured.

Tottenham
Danny Rose and Harry Winks are sidelined.

Key stat
Brighton have lost 14 league matches this season and nine of those were by a 2-0 scoreline.

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