Head-To-Head: Tottenham vs Brighton

While the focus may be on Manchester City vs Liverpool in their FA Cup Semi-Final match, Tottenham and Brighton could be an interesting watch in the Premier League this weekend.

The Premier League this weekend is slightly overshadowed by the FA Cup, with Manchester City and Liverpool going to war once again.

However, there are some good games still in the league, and the one we'll be keeping an eye on is Tottenham vs Brighton.

Tottenham have been in great form as of late and have found themselves back in the top four. Brighton has dropped quite drastically this year after having a fantastic first half of the season.

The two met just a few weeks ago and Spurs came out on top 2-0. Could this weekend see a repeat? 

 

Goals

Tottenham: 56

Brighton: 28

 

Tottenham have double the goals that Brighton has scored this year, but that shouldn’t really be too much of a surprise. Spurs have the firepower of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, who is their top scorer and has over double the amount of goals than Brighton’s top scorer, Neal Maupay.

 

xG per 90 minutes

Tottenham: 1.70

Brighton: 1.11

 

Scoring really isn’t Brighton’s strong point. Their 1.11 xG isn’t great but it's not terrible either. It has them 14th in the league for that. And I’m not going to compare it to Spurs’ because there really isn’t a comparison there.

But what I will say is I’m sure they wish they were closer to that xG than they actually are for goals per 90 minutes, as their rate of 0.87 has them 18th for that stat.

In fact, Spurs are actually underachieving by their xG too, albeit nowhere near as bad as Brighton. They have a 1.61 goals per 90 minutes rate, so only slightly down on their xG.

 

Shots total per 90 minutes

Tottenham: 12.90

Brighton: 12.77

 

These next two stats showcase the difference in quality up top between the two sides. This one is a lot better for Brighton. They make their opportunities to take a shot, coming in just 0.13 shots shy of Spurs here. The two sides sit in eighth and ninth in the league for this stat. 

 

Shots on target per 90 minutes

Tottenham: 4.90

Brighton: 3.35

 

And here is where we see the difference. While Brighton may almost match Spurs for shots total, they are way off of being as accurate at hitting the target than them. Spurs rank amongst the top teams for this stat, Brighton are amongst the worst.

Tottenham have a really solid rate of 0.31 goals per shot on target, and 0.12 goals per shot, which I say again, has them as one of the top teams in the league.

Brighton’s rates aren’t as nice. 0.23 goals per shots on target and 0.06 goals per shots is the second worst in the league for both of those stats.

 

Goals conceded per 90 minutes

Tottenham: 1.19

Brighton: 1.19

 

There’s not really much to say about this stat, as both sides have played 31 games and conceded 37 goals so far this season, so of course this stat will be the exact same for both.

 

Penalties

Tottenham: 3/3

Brighton: 3/5

 

Penalties may be scarce for Spurs, but at least they make the most of them when they are given one.

While the two sides have scored three penalties each, Tottenham can boast a 100% conversion rate to Brighton’s 60%.

 

Corners per game

Tottenham: 5.1

Brighton: 5.48

 

Finally, a stat that Brighton has Spurs beat in.

Despite Tottenham being slightly superior for total shots and a bit more superior for shots on target, Brighton have actually earned themselves more corners this season.

While I can’t find exactly how efficient either side is from corners specifically, I can tell you that Brighton has had 110 shots from set pieces this season and has scored 10 of them, while Spurs has had 94 shots from set pieces and has scored 7.

 

Cards

Tottenham: 56 Y, 1 R

Brighton: 61 Y, 2 R

 

Both these two sides rank in the top 10 for yellow cards this season, with Brighton in sixth and Tottenham in eighth. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they are both ill-disciplined. They are some way off of Leeds who have the top spot, and when you look at it, both are under two yellow cards a game, and that’s pretty much the average for the league.