Dugout Discussion – Brighton vs Stoke

Gameweek 12 comes to its conclusion at the Amex Stadium this evening as Brighton entertain Stoke at 8pm.

For the hosts, Pascal Gross has been the standout asset in Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

Sitting in over 19% of FPL squads, the playmaker has averaged 7.2 points per match (ppm) in front of his own fans – when on the pitch, he’s played a part in 83% of their home goals.

Four strikes in the Seagulls’ last three league outings have brought Glenn Murray (5.8) onto our radars as a potential budget frontman – over 112,000 acquired him for Gameweek 12.

Up against a defence that has conceded at least twice in six of their last eight, Murray is the most captained player for tonight’s encounter, handed the armband by 6,868 managers compared with Gross’ 3,904 backers.

The Potters’ two most popular players, Eric Choupo-Moting (5.8%) and Xherdan Shaqiri (5.3%), have struggled on their travels, with just an away assist between them (for the latter) in five road trips.

Yet the duo’s home form means that, overall, they’ve still averaged a decent 4.0 and 4.5 ppm respectively this season. And clashes with Palace and Swansea in the next three could warrant further attention for the midfield pair.

Brighton, though, have been fairly resilient at home – league leaders Manchester City, in a 2-0 win in Gameweek 1, are the only side to have scored more than one goal away to Chris Hughton’s men.