Brighton & Hove Albion - Crystal Palace

Brighton continue to push, but it’s all getting a bit desperate. There’s still time to carve out some decent chances, they need to keep their heads.

One final change for Brighton as Jahanbakhsh comes on. They deserve to win this, but time is rapidly running out.

Surely Brighton will go on to win this? Surely!?

The night is over for goalscorer Mateta, who has had very little chance to get on the ball since scoring that brilliant opener, and on comes Christian Benteke.

It's still all Brighton but again Lallana shoots over from inside the box. It's remarkable that this game is still level.

Lallana shoots over under pressure from Cahill, who is back on with some cottonwool up his nose. That should have been the second for Brighton.

Palace are temporarily down to 10 as Gary Cahill leaks claret from his nostril. It won’t take long for the medics to clean that up.

Brighton make another change, with Adam Lallana coming on to provide a bit of freshness to the midfield.

Another string of brave blocks inside the box deny Brighton in a spot of penalty-area pinball. It feels like a second goal for the home side is moments away… but then it felt like that in the first half and we know what happened there.

Again the final pass by Brighton is slightly away from Welbeck, but this time he manages to readjust and get a shot away, winning yet another corner. It’s a set-piece special tonight!

A slick Brighton attack falls down with the final pass as Mac Allister slightly overhits his through-ball to Welbeck. It’s been much slicker from the home side since the break.

Kouyate is down and receiving treatement, but it looks like he should hopefully be okay to continue.

Woah! It’s quite hard to explain what’s happened there. Trossard is initially denied from point-blank range by Guaita, but afterwards it’s an absolute flurry of activity in the goalmouth as attempt after attempt is blocked and Palace eventually, somehow, survive.

Brighton have got the goal they probably deserve and it’s been one-way traffic since the equaliser. The hosts win yet another corner as the pressure continues to build.

Burn halts another Palace counter-attack and picks up a booking. It's a tad harsh if the replay is anything to go by.

Palace are defending in banks of four and relying on Ayew and Mateta to hold it up and allow for counter-attacks to build. One such opportunity goes to waste as the pair get their wires crossed and give the ball away.

Brighton have started the second half well, controlling the game in much the same way as they did for the majority of the first 45. There's a higher tempo to their play though.

The game is back underway at the Amex and Brighton have made a chance, bringing on Danny Welbeck for Steven Alzate.

I'm going to spend the next 15 minutes watching Mateta's finish on loop. Here it is if you'd like to do the same...

Guaita does well to claim yet another Brighton corner and that’s the end of the half.

It’s probably a stretch to say this has been a well-executed plan by Palace, but Roy Hodgson will certainly take the position his side are in heading towards half-time. They’ve restricted Brighton to only half chances and they have that goal courtesy of Mateta’s lovely finish.

Again it's well defended by Palace. They've not been great, but in the air Palace have been pretty solid.

A Brighton corner is well defended again, but Mac Allister’s shot takes a deflection and it’s another set-piece for the hosts.

Veltman curls a shot wide from the edge of the box when well placed. He should have done better with that, and Brighton will be rueing not turning that early dominance into chances.

That must have been close to Mateta's first touch, such has been the lack of time Palace have enjoyed in the final third, but it was a peach of a finish. It's given the visitors a real boost too, and they've looked far livelier since going ahead.

Again it’s Trossard who gets into space, but Veltman’s shot from his cross into the box flashes wide.

Palace just can’t get out. They are dealing reasonably well with the aerial bombardment, but it’s one-way traffic nevertheless.

Trossard tears down the right again for Brighton, but the attack comes to nothing. Much of the joy has come down that flank for the hosts, with Townsend and Eze not really offering Palace full-back Mitchell much protection.

A low cross flashes across the box and no Brighton player manages to get a touch. That’s as close as they’ve come, with Maupay fractions away from producing a finish.

Andros Townsend charges down the Palace left and goes down as the ball runs out of play, but there’s nothing doing from the ref. He probably should have got a cross in there in truth, but his touch was a little heavy.

Pascal Gros glides a cross into the box but it fails to pick out a blue-shirted team mate and Palace clear. The hosts are well on top here though, despite the lack of clear-cut chances so far.

A corner is whipped into the mixer in the Palace box as Guita opts to stay on his line, but it’s a Palace head that gets to it first and any danger is averted. Those early touches from the visitors were not a sign of things to come – they’ve struggled to even get a string of passes together in the last five minutes.

Some lovely football from the hosts opens up the Palace defence, but Mac Allister sees his shot blocked and Bissouma’s shot on the follow-up flies well over.

Townsend clatters into a tackle on Maupay and is slightly fortunate to escape a booking.

Brighton sweep forward and get a cross in, but Cahill - back in the side at centre-back - deals with it with minimal fuss.

The visitors have seen more of the ball in the opening stages but there has been little action of note as the two sides size each other up.

Palace, wearing their white away strip, get the game underway.

The teams are out at the Amex and we’re all set for kick-off.

Hodgson is correct up to a point of course, but surely part of the joy of sport is the dream of achieving something special, something beyond your means. Maybe now and again Roy would be best placed embracing that romantic side a little.

There’s something about Roy Hodgson that fails to get the fires of passion burning in a fanbase. The 73-year-old is clearly an extremely competent coach and a credible tactician, but he does sometimes struggle to buy-in to the hype game. In response to a fan protest last week, Hodgson has warned the Palace fans of the risk of overambition, giving a mightily sensible but extremely unpassionate speech in his most recent press conference.

Defeats to Burnley and Leeds in their last two games have stalled Crystal Palace’s progress somewhat. Roy Hodgson’s side are seven points clear of Fulham in the relegation zone, which should be enough but isn’t completely comfortable just yet. The problem for Hodgson’s is his side’s mounting injury crisis, with eight players out of contention including Wilfried Zaha, the squad’s stand-out player. Victory tonight would be a huge step towards getting that positive mood back at Palace.

Brighton go into this game on the back of a record unbeaten run in the Premier League. Graham Potter’s side haven’t tasted defeat since their visit to Manchester City back at the start of January, and would extend that run to seven games if they avoid a loss this evening.

Brighton are unchanged from their draw with Villa last time out, but Palace have rung the changes. Out go Patrick van Aanholt, Scott Dann, Nathaniel Clyne, Christian Benteke and Michy Batshuayi from the starting line-up, and in come Gary Cahill, Joel Ward, Andros Townsend, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Tyrick Mitchell. That’s a decent sign that manager Roy Hodgson is not a happy man with what he saw in the loss to Burnley.

Three points separate these sides before kick-off, and Brighton (on 26 points) could go above Palace (29) on goal difference with a win. A comfortable mid-table finish is on offer for both clubs, but neither are completely safe from being sucked into a bit of relegation trouble just yet.

Evening and welcome to live coverage of Brighton vs Palace. Stick around for team news and build-up followed by full match commentary from 8pm.