English Premier
2025-08-16 - Brighton vs Fulham
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 16th August 2025 - Kick Off 3pm
Brighton
Returning to European Football is the ambition for Brighton Football Club, but rivals Crystal Palace won the FA Cup and have kept The Seagulls from earning a spot in the Conference League. Fabian Hurzeler remains in charge of a club that have made regular changes in the dugout and the young manager is expected to push Brighton forward over the coming months.
They finished 8th in the Premier League last season and Brighton were only 5 points behind Newcastle United, who will be playing in the Champions League this season. Credit has to be given to the manager and squad for taking Brighton to their second highest top flight finish, but expectations remain high from those watching in the stands. Too many draws were an issue at the Amex Stadium where Brighton finished with an 8-8-3 record.
Brighton were flying at the end of last season and they concluded with a 5 game unbeaten run in the Premier League during which time they won 4 times. The side were unbeaten in 4 home League games at the Amex Stadium and Brighton won half of those fixtures, including beating Champions Liverpool 3-2.
As has been the case in recent years, the Brighton business model has included selling some important names for big money and Joao Pedro has left for Chelsea. Carlos Baleba is a doubt with a knock, although has also been linked with a move to Manchester United, while Fabian Hurzeler has been given some new signings who should be involved.
Fulham
Holding onto Marco Silva as manager will give Fulham every chance of avoiding being dragged into a relegation scrap, but the lack of investment so far this summer has been a disappointment. It has been made clear that Fulham are looking to bring in new faces to freshen up the squad, and they are likely to keep chasing until the very end of the window, but the manager has to go into the new season with the same squad that ended last season in 11th place.
Just days remain before the Premier League season begins and Fulham have been making bids for new players, but those are unlikely to be involved this weekend even if they are accepted and signed. For much of last season, Fulham were pushing for European Football, but they did finish in the bottom half for a second season in succession. The side had an 8-4-7 away record in the top flight where they scored 27 goals and conceded 24.
Fulham were in a good position going into the March international break, but they were beaten in 7 of their last 10 games in all competitions, including in the FA Cup Quarter Final. They did win late away League games at Southampton and rivals Brentford, but Fulham lost 4 of their last 6 on their travels in the top flight.
Antonee Robinson is injured and expected to miss the opening two League games of the season, while Ryan Sessegnon is a doubt.
Head to Head
Both Fulham and Brighton won home League games against the other last season.
Brighton had not won any of 4 home games against Fulham prior to the 2-1 win in March, although 3 of those matches had ended in draws.
Prediction
Seven points separated Brighton and Fulham last season and this looks a tough opening fixture to call at the Amex Stadium.
Fabian Hurzeler is well aware that he is managing a Brighton team that will have plenty of changes in the summer transfer window with the club willing to sell key players. However, the structure behind the scenes means they have been able to replace those players effectively in terms of quality and it will be up to the manager to integrate them into his team.
Strong pre-season form is encouraging and Brighton definitely ended the last campaign with real momentum, which will give the team plenty of confidence.
Marco Silva and Fulham are still hoping to bring in some new players to freshen the squad up, but for now they go in with what they had before. They are another team who have been in decent pre-season form, but Silva is going to be well aware of the collapse in form after the March international break and that may be a reason the manager has been hoping the club would have been able to bring in some new faces.
Fulham are a solid and experienced group and that is important for them, while the system should be very familiar to the squad.
It may make Fulham a little predictable, but they are a team that can be stubborn and that may mean they can weather much of what Brighton may want to throw at them.
Conditions this weekend are not going to be easy for Premier League clubs still getting up to full speed and the layers may be underestimating the chance of this fixture ending with fewer than three goals shared out.
Brighton Premier League games were full of goals last season, which is perhaps a reason the prices are what they are for this opening League fixture. However, they did score more away goals than at the Amex Stadium and Fulham ended the season with fewer away goals conceded than at home.
The Premier League as a whole was averaging close to three goals per game, so this may be a dangerous selection in going against the trend with one of the more entertaining teams in the Division.
In saying that, it is the opening fixture of the season and the familiarity of the Fulham team may just see them contain much of the attacking threat that Brighton are able to bring. It may also be a fixture where potential tiredness is a factor into the second half in what is expected to be tough conditions and the under 2.5 goals market is just appealing enough at odds against quotes.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Brighton 1-1 Fulham
