Brighton v Reading: Seagulls fancied to keep out Royals

Kick Off: 1730, 25/02/2017

Stadium: Amex Stadium

TV: Sky Sports 1

Brighton’s Championship promotion battle with Reading at Amex Stadium on Saturday evening promises to be a tight tussle and the hosts appeal at 8/5 to win this without conceding.

The Seagulls are under pressure from a red-hot Huddersfield side to maintain their place in the top two but Chris Hughton can call on a well-drilled defence to batten down the hatches.

A Look At Brighton’s Betting Odds

Brighton have let in just nine goals in 16 league games at home this season, with nine of their 12 victories at this venue featuring a clean sheet, including when beating quality outfits Huddersfield, Leeds and Norwich here.

Following a rocky little patch at the back, Hughton was happy to see his side back in a mean mood when prevailing 2-0 at Barnsley last Saturday, with the manager commenting: “We had to make sure we were back to perhaps what we do best, which is keeping the game as tight as we can and showing a bit of quality in whatever period of the game we can do.”

Opposite number Paul Heckingbottom was impressed, admitting: “They were clinical at one end and gave us nothing at the other.” Barnsley had gone into that fixture in fair form, so it was an encouraging effort from Brighton, who are now taken at 13/2 to repeat that scoreline.

A Look At Reading’s Betting Odds

Reading travelled to high-flying Huddersfield in midweek on a six-match unbeaten run but came up short when going down 1-0 to an 82nd-minute Philip Billing strike after Ali Al Habsi had earlier saved a first-half penalty.

There was no disgrace in that result but the Royals have now tasted defeat seven times on the road this term – also drawing a blank up front in losses at Wolves, Fulham and Leeds while they could only score from the spot in 4-1 reversals at Newcastle and Brentford.