SCOUT REPORT: BRIGHTON

come to the capital on Tuesday evening.Brighton & Hove AlbionAfter over a month's wait for a home game, City have their second in less than a week when

Brighton are very much contenders for the Play-Off spots - lying in seventh spot, four points behind sixth place Middlesbrough, but with a game in hand. One thing in their favour is that their goal difference is eight better than Boro, and superior to every team below them. As City fans know, goal difference can make all the difference in the race for the top-six.

men have failed to score in eight fixtures, one of the worst records in the league in this respect.Gus Poyet’sThe Seagulls are trailing Cardiff by twenty-one points in the league table, though surprising perhaps is that Albion have only lost one more game than the league leaders. This is down to the thirteen draws in their thirty-one games thus far. A contributing factor to this is that

Key Players: on loan from Stoke could prove a valuable one for Albion's promotion ambitions.Matthew UpsonThe recent signing of

. Adam El-Abd and Egypt international Bruno, former Valencia defender Wayne BridgeAnd the centre half is entering a defence that already has a wealth of experience. Upson, an England international himself is accompanied by fellow international

. The Polish international has kept nine clean sheets so far this season and will no doubt be looking to add to it against Cardiff.Tomasz KuszczakNot only is the defence experienced, but Brighton also have a former Manchester United keeper in the shape of

could prove influential in midfield and has currently got the highest total assists for Albion.Andrea Orlandi. Former Swansea player Kazenga LuaLua and Will Buckley has chipped in with six. They have some dangerous players in midfield too, with goal threats Ashley Barnes. He has netted eleven this term and striking partner Craig Mackail-SmithIt is no surprise to see that the Seagulls’ top scorer is

Previous Meetings:Honours are even when it comes to the head-to-head records of the two clubs. Out of the sixty meetings, both have managed twenty-one wins, with eighteen games ending all square.

Even in recent times, the records are still pretty even. City just edge it with three wins in the last ten fixtures, while The Seagulls have two victories and five games have finished in a tie. The record books certainly point to a close game once again. But will something give?

Last Meeting: Brighton 0 – 0 Cardiff City (21/08/12)

side one up. The score would indicate that this was a game of few chances, but this was far from the case. There were twenty-six shots on goal in total and nineteen corners!Malky Mackay’s putting Etien Velikonja and Joe MasonIt proved to be a night of top class goal keeping at the AMEX stadium back in August, as the two teams played out a 0-0 draw. Both stoppers produced a series of fine saves, the best coming from Tomasz Kuszczak who’s double stop denied both

Brighton Line-up: Ankergren, Dunk, Calderon, Agdestein.Subs not used:Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, Crofts, Noone (Vicente), Dicker (Harley), Birdcutt, Barnes (LuaLua), Mckail-Smith.

Cardiff City Line-up:Marshall, McNaughton, Taylor, Hudson, Turner, Whittingham, Cowie, Gunnarsson, Mutch (Mason), Helguson (Velikonja), Bellamy (Conway).Subs not used:Lewis, Kiss, Blake, Earnshaw.