(Football news) In the rematch at the Amex Stadium in September, the Magpies were defeated 3-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Evan Ferguson, so they are looking for retribution against the Seagulls.

Although they were not able to finish in the top four for the second time this season, Newcastle is still likely to make it into the Europa League the next season after a recent run of excellent play.

After winning four of their last five games and scoring 14 goals, the Magpies finished the previous season with just one victory from their final five games. This season, however, they go into their home stretch in high spirits. 

A week after thrashing Sheffield United 5-1 on home soil, Newcastle cruised to a 4-1 victory at Burnley last Saturday, with Callum Wilson, Sean Longstaff and Bruno Guimaraes all on the scoresheet in the first half before Alexander Isak netted his 20th Premier League goal of the season after the interval.

Eddie Howe’s side currently sit sixth in the table, four points behind an out-of-form Tottenham Hotspur outfit in fifth, while they are just two points ahead of seventh-placed Chelsea and eighth-placed Manchester United with three games left to play.

Newcastle therefore still have work to do to guarantee European football for next season, starting with Saturday’s clash against a Brighton side whom they have beaten in their last two home meetings by an aggregate score of 6-2.

In stark contrast to Newcastle, Brighton looked as if they would be ending the campaign on a whimper and remain in danger of finishing in the bottom half of the table, a year on from securing their highest-ever Premier League finish of sixth.

However, the Seagulls ended a six-game winless streak when they claimed three morale-boosting points from a slender 1-0 home victory over top-four hopefuls Aston Villa last weekend. Joao Pedro scored the decisive goal in the 87th-minute, heading home a rebound after seeing his penalty save by Robin Olsen.

Roberto De Zerbi’s men have subsequently climbed up to 11th place in the Premier League table, but their hopes of European qualification for next season are hanging by a thread as they sit seven points adrift of seventh-placed Chelsea with only three games remaining.

As they have only triumphed in one of their previous ten away games across all competitions—a 5-0 thumping of bottom-feeding Sheffield United—it is reasonable to argue that Brighton has not enjoyed many of their trips lately. However, their recent record versus Newcastle augurs well for Saturday’s matchup.

The Seagulls are hoping to win their third league double against the North-East team, having done so twice before in 2020–21 and 1978–79. In fact, they have only lost two of their previous 13 games with the Magpies.

Also read: Everton will play Sheffield United in the Premier League