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Hurzeler instils confidence in Brighton squad for Premier League run-in

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Fabian Hurzeler believes in the strength of his Brighton squad, as they prepare to restart their push for a European place in the Premier League with a trip to Burnley.

The Seagulls are five points behind sixth-placed Chelsea after entering the international break with a 2-1 victory over Liverpool.

Brighton have won four of their last five Premier League matches (L1) and could win three successive league games away from home for the first time since January 2023 – the only time they have previously done so in the competition.

However, Hurzeler will be without his captain Lewis Dunk for Saturday's trip to Turf Moor, after the defender picked up his 10th yellow card of the season against Liverpool.

Nevertheless, the Seagulls boss has full confidence that his players will step up in the crucial closing weeks of the season.

"Yes, 100%, and I think we have a strong squad," Hurzeler told the club's website when asked if he has enough depth in his squad. "We will have options to replace Lewis Dunk.

"I think that's also a strength of this team, to always be able to react to these kinds of things, to always replace a player if you need to replace a player.

"To replace them not one to one, to replace them as a team, and that's what we will do in the next weeks.

"We will find solutions. We won't complain, and then we try to keep the positivity, to keep the momentum, to do the basic things right."

Burnley, meanwhile, are 10 points adrift of safety after a 3-1 defeat to Fulham last time out in the Premier League.

The Clarets have picked up only 10 points from their last 22 Premier League games (W1 D7 L14), as many as they managed in their opening nine matches of 2025-26 (W3 D1 L5).

Nevertheless, Burnley boss Scott Parker insisted his side are "fully committed" in their fight for survival.

"We understand the dynamics of what we’re up against," said Parker. "We know the games are running out, but we’ve just got to keep going.

"We’ll keep fighting and trying to get points on the board. There’s seven games left and we’ll be fully committed."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Burnley - Quilindschy Hartman

Among players with 40+ 'true tackles' attempted in the Premier League this season, only Jake O'Brien (84.5% - 49/58) and Jean-Clair Todibo (77.6% - 38/49) have a better true tackle win rate than Burnley’s Quilindschy Hartman (76.6% - 36/47).

A standard successful tackle is when a player wins possession after a challenge, while a successful true tackle also includes instances where a player gets a touch on the ball, even if the opponent retains possession.

Brighton – Danny Welbeck

Welbeck’s brace against Liverpool last time out took his Premier League tally to 12 goals this season.

Only Glenn Murray has scored more for Brighton in a single campaign in the competition (13 in 2018-19).

MATCH PREDICTION – BRIGHTON WIN

Brighton are looking to complete the Premier League double over Burnley for the first time, last doing so in any division in the 2012-13 Championship campaign.

Burnley have won just one of their last nine home league games against Brighton (D5 L3), beating them 1-0 in December 2018 under Sean Dyche.

Seven of the 13 Premier League meetings between Burnley and Brighton have been drawn, with both sides winning three each. It’s one of just eight Premier League fixtures to have been played 12+ times and finish level more than half the time.

In the Premier League this season, Brighton rank first for high turnovers (264) and second for pressed sequences (386), while only Tottenham (247) have given up more high turnovers than Burnley (244).

And, after winning each of their first three Premier League games this season in which they led, Burnley have since won just one of their last five matches when leading (D2 L2).

In 2025-26, the Clarets have faced the highest open play expected goals against (xGA) figure, per 90 minutes, among all sides in a winning game state (1.77).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Burnley – 22.6%

Draw – 22.2%

Brighton – 55.2%