Sheffield Wednesday’s predicted XI vs Brighton in the FA Cup

by Lewis Blain

1 minute read 4/1/2020 | 08:30am

Sheffield Wednesday take a much-needed break from league action this afternoon as they head to the south coast for a huge FA Cup third round tie with Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Owls have suffered three successive defeats in the Championship with them losing 1-0 to Hull City last time out.

Prediction?

Brighton win

Bore draw

Owls win

It gives manager Garry Monk a chance to compete against a team in England’s top-flight, a place the club ideally want to be, come to the end of the season.

Therefore, the 40-year-old is likely to go strong for this fixture. Here’s how we predict the south Yorkshiremen line up today…

swfc predicted xi vs brighton fa cup

There could be as many as two changes as Monk tries to put a stop to their recent poor run of results with a system change.

Having gone with 4-4-2 for a while now, a striker may drop out to accompany an extra midfield man as Brighton come with Premier League prestige.

Both Atdhe Nuhiu and Sam Winnall are dropped from their New Year’s Day defeat with fit to feature top scorer Steven Fletcher returning to the starting line up.

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The 32-year-old was quickly introduced at half-time, and his absence has been hugely evident as the Owls have failed to win, or even draw, in his absence.

Another addition to the starting XI is Massimo Luongo, he partners Barry Bannan and Sam Hutchinson in central midfield, the latter of which drops a little deeper to give the side more defensive stability.

No player in the entire squad averages more tackles per game than the 30-year-old at 2.5 via WhoScored.

Liam Palmer is likely to still be absent through injury, so the back four and the goalkeeper remains much the same.

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“If there’s a bit of rain about, it makes the surface wet.”

Owls skipper Tom Lees sits next to Julian Borner at centre-back with Morgan Fox and Dominic Iorfa either side.

Cameron Dawson continues between the sticks with Kieren Westwood absent from the matchday squad entirely last time out.

Meanwhile, several Wednesday fans have been discussing the potential addition of this Premier League prospect this month…