Brighton vs Wigan Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Brighton fans have been waiting a very long time for this day. Not since 1983 have the Seagulls played in the top flight and given the rollercoaster ride they’ve been on since, few would begrudge them the chance to play Premier League football next term. They won’t get any favours from a Wigan side that has suddenly found a couple of wins and is scrapping for their lives but it’s hard to look past the Seagulls claiming the win in front of what will be a passionate home crowd.

Victory for Brighton would effectively guarantee them automatic promotion. They’d have a 15 point advantage on 3rd place Huddersfield, who’d still have 5 games to play but with a vastly inferior goal difference. In any case the Terriers kick-off in a tough game at Derby just minutes after this game finishes so they might not have to wait long for their promotion to be rubber-stamped.

With a 76% home win ratio in the league this term, it’s hard to look past Brighton. No Championship side can better their average of 2.43 points per game at home and they come into this one in good form with 6 wins from their last 7. There was a time, a month or so back, when they were starting to look a little edgy with Huddersfield gaining ground. However, slip-ups by the Terriers has really eased the pressure on them and, as a result, they’ve been able to play with greater freedom .

We saw evidence of that at Wolves on Friday as two fine strikes from Anthony Knockaert sealed a 2-0 win. The Frenchman has hit 15 goals for the season and has been one of the undisputed stars of the Championship season. With 6 goals in his last 10 games, backing Knockaert to score anytime at 7/4 looks good here.

There may be a party atmosphere at the Amex but Wigan will be in no mood to hand them anything on a plate. A stunning quick-fire hat-trick from the fit again Nick Powell saw them come from 2-0 down to beat Barnsley 3-2 last time out and he’d also popped up in the 97th minute against Rotherham in their previous game to net a winner by the same scoreline. Although their task is still a big one, there’s suddenly some belief about the Latics and they look much more capable now of asking a few questions of this Brighton defence.

However, clearly this is a much tougher game than their last two and having lost 57% of their away games this term, it’s hard to give them much chance of getting a result. They are still 5 points from safety with only 4 games to play so it’s debatable whether even a point would be much use to them. Graham Barrow may think 3 wins out of 4 will give them a fighting chance and he might approach this game in a slightly more positive manner than he would have earlier in the season.

They’ll certainly be buoyed by those two dramatic wins and could have their moments in this game but they will struggle to live with a Brighton side that has scored 2.1 goals per game at home this term. Therefore, backing Brighton to Win & Over 2.5 Goals at 13/10 looks to be worth a flutter.