Brighton and Crystal Palace Clash in Premier League Battle
The Amex Stadium will host a crucial Premier League encounter on Sunday, February 8, 2026, as Brighton & Hove Albion face off against Crystal Palace. Both teams are grappling with disappointing form, hoping a victory over their fierce rivals can salvage something from their respective campaigns.
Brighton are currently on a run of just one win in their last eleven Premier League games. Their recent momentum was halted last weekend by a 97th-minute equalizer from Beto against Everton. Meanwhile, Crystal Palace haven’t secured a win in their last twelve matches across all competitions, compounded by off-field issues in January.
Despite their struggles, both sides maintain a comfortable distance from the relegation zone, sitting eleven and nine points clear respectively. A win for either team could propel them towards a potential top-half finish, a goal that seemed more attainable earlier in the season. Palace were as high as third place six weeks into the campaign and remained in the top four ten games ago, while Brighton also briefly broke into the top five.
However, both teams have experienced a significant decline since December, with only Wolves and Burnley collecting fewer Premier League points than Brighton and Palace (nine points each). Palace also share the worst goal difference in the league during that period, with a negative ten (scoring eight and conceding eighteen).
Brighton have been plagued by late goals recently, conceding stoppage-time goals in their last two outings – a defeat at Fulham and a dropped two points at home to Everton. A subplot to the match centers around James Milner, who has the opportunity to equal Gareth Barry’s Premier League appearances record. If he features, Milner will reach 653 games, though he currently has played significantly fewer minutes than Barry over the course of his career.
Historically, this fixture has been closely contested. Brighton have won just two of their last thirteen Premier League games against Crystal Palace, drawing seven and losing four. However, both of those victories have come at home. Conversely, Crystal Palace have won two of their last three Premier League games against Brighton, as many as they had in the previous twelve encounters.
Crystal Palace’s recent struggles are particularly stark. They are currently on a nine-game winless streak in the Premier League, and haven’t achieved ten or more consecutive games without a win since January to March 2023 (a run of twelve games). Their attacking form has also been a concern, scoring the fewest goals (5) since the start of their winless run and significantly underperforming their expected goals (xG) by over eight goals (13.3 xG).
Brighton have proven to be a formidable force at home in recent seasons, losing only two of their last twenty Premier League matches at the Amex Stadium, with both defeats coming against Aston Villa.
In terms of individual performances, Jean-Philippe Mateta leads Crystal Palace’s scoring charts with ten goals in all competitions, closely followed by Ismaïla Sarr with nine. Sarr notably scored two goals and provided an assist in his last appearance at the Amex in December 2024, contributing to a 3-1 Palace victory.
Brighton’s Pascal Groß recently became the first player to score under all four of Brighton’s Premier League managers – Hughton, Potter, de Zerbi, and Hürzeler – a feat only previously achieved by Peter Ndlovu at Coventry City.
