Charlton-Brighton is a League Cup fourth round match at 20:45 on Wednesday: stats, line-ups and predictions.
Since their last appearance in the Premier League in 2007, Charlton have been trawling between the Championship and League One, the second and third tiers respectively of the English football system. The Addicks are also coming off an anonymous season, in which they have never managed to fight their way back into the top flight.
This year things are not going any better, on the contrary. The London borough team are currently eighteenth in League One, just four points ahead of the relegation zone. The only satisfactions have come in this cup: the men, now led by Anthony Hayes – the new coach will be Dean Holden appointed yesterday – beat Stevenage on penalties in the third round, after the regular time had ended in a draw (1-1). They thus earned themselves a challenge against Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton, a Premier League side who, in the previous round of the League Cup, surprisingly knocked out Arsenal, overwhelmed 3-1 at home.
The impact of the former Sassuolo coach had not been the best, thanks to a prohibitive calendar. The Seagulls had started to win again from the end of October onwards, with the resounding 4-1 success over former Graham Potter’s Chelsea.
After three wins in a row, including the League Cup victory over the Gunners, Brighton had bid farewell to the league with a defeat at home to Aston Villa (1-2). De Zerbi wants to get off on the right foot, and in the cup he looks set to field a competitive eleven, although Alexis Mac Allister, freshly crowned world champion with his Argentine side, will be absent. Instead, the other Qatar 2022 veterans should be involved in the match, including Sanchez, Lamptey, Estupinan, Trossard, Mitoma, Sarmiento and Caicedo.
The Valley Stadium
The Prediction
Brighton should be able to get through this round of the League Cup with ease against a team who are floundering in the third tier and have not won in their last seven matches. De Zerbi’s men are likely to score between two and four goals against the Addicks.
Charlton-Brighton’s likely line-up
- CHARLTON (4-3-3): Maynard-Brewer; Clare, Lavelle, Iniss, Sessegnon; Dobson, Payne, Fraser; Kirk, Aneke, Rak-Sakyi.
- BRIGHTON (4-2-3-1): Steele; Lamptey, Dunk, Colwill, Estupinan; Caicedo, Gilmour; March, Trossard, Mitoma; Welbeck.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-3
