Brighton reporter Brian Owen: How Hürzeler will set up his Seagulls side for Brentford meeting | OneFootball

Brian Owen, Brighton and Hove Albion reporter for The Argus, has explained how Fabian Hürzeler is likely to set up his side for Saturday’s game against Brentford at Gtech Community Stadium (3pm kick-off GMT).

The Seagulls were beaten 1-0 by Aston Villa in their last Premier League fixture.

It’s been three months since the last meeting between Brighton and Hove Albion and Brentford. How would you summarise how that period has gone for the Seagulls?

Turbulent, I would say. They had a really good win at Nottingham Forest the week after the win against Brentford and they looked well set.

A few days later, they were 2-0 up at home to Aston Villa, but ended up losing 4-3, which started the run of one Premier League win in 13, with that win coming at home to Burnley.

It has been increasingly concerning and increasingly tense between the fans and Fabian Hürzeler.

In one week they signed Pascal Groß on New Year’s Day, beat Burnley, drew with Man City, then won at Man United in the FA Cup – that period felt like it might have lifted the feel around the place and built more of a relationship between the fans and Hürzeler.

But, since then, they have drawn at home to Bournemouth (which they were quite fortunate to do) lost at Fulham (where they were very unfortunate), conceded with pretty much the last kick in a 1-1 draw against Everton and were terrible in the 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, which is the big rivalry.

With seven points separating Brighton from the bottom three, would you consider them to be in a relegation battle?

Hürzeler has spoken about reality and that they have looked at the league table. He has come up short of saying “We are in a relegation battle,” but he has more or less said it, between the lines.

There is a lot of talk about what Brighton’s ambitions are - Europe and top 10 - but if you look at the annual report they put out with their accounts, it always says the initial aim is to stay up. That is there in black and white.

They have been up in the top flight for almost a decade now, but you then get carried away talking about pushing for Europe and trying to be a top 10 club on a regular basis.

They will not be blind to the reality of a potential relegation tussle, depending on what the other teams do.

Which player should Brentford fans keep an eye out for on Saturday?

I know a lot of people probably say strikers or wingers, but I will say centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke.

Van Hecke has got painful memories of facing Brentford last season, when he got knocked out right at the end of the game.

He stands out because he is tall and has got a shock of blonde hair. Where he really seems to be progressing is not just as a defender, but getting involved in building moves and playing constructive passes.

If you look at a lot of the goals or chances Brighton have had, it might not show up on the short clip you might see on social media, but if you look a little bit further back, you will quite often see a van Hecke dribble or forward pass involved in the build-up.

He is the sort of player who does catch the attention for the way he plays and his appearance.

What should Keith Andrews’ players expect in terms of shape and style?

It is loosely 4-2-3-1, but one of the problems Brighton have had this season is that they have not had two genuine wingers on the pitch at the same time very often, certainly since the end of September.

Ideally, they would have a fit and in-form Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh as the wingers, but they have hardly played together at the same time, with a lot of that due to injury or not being fully fit.

There are one or two concerns over Minteh against the ball as well. The no.9 and no.10 will interchange at times, with Danny Welbeck coming a little bit deeper if it is him.

What’s your score prediction?

A lot of people at Brighton have got a lot of time for Keith Andrews for the season he had here in 2013/14. I have spoken to Óscar García about him and what a good pro and learner he was on the job.

A lot of Brighton fans are pleased to see him doing well and are expecting a really hard game. If I say 1-1, that might be a little bit optimistic, but I will say that as that would be a decent point.