Fabian Hurzeler insists his Brighton team must treat their remaining Premier League games as finals, should they want to try and reach a European place. 

Brighton are 11th in the standings but just four points adrift of fifth-placed Brentford, having gone unbeaten in their last two league matches against Burnley and Manchester City. 

The Seagulls welcome Bournemouth to the AMEX Stadium on Monday, with the Cherries revitalised after Antoine Semenyo's last-gasp winner against Tottenham in their most recent league game, though the winger has since joined Manchester City.

Brighton, meanwhile, held Pep Guardiola's City side to a 1-1 draw, and followed that up with a 2-1 victory over Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup. 

"We should go game to game and don't look too much ahead. In the Premier League this season, anything is possible, and you have to see every game as a final," Hurzeler said. 

"We have to go into this game on Monday, and it will be a big challenge and a big opportunity for us. This Premier League season is very competitive and unpredictable."

Hurzeler has also been boosted by the return of Yankuba Minteh and Carlos Baleba, who had been representing their respective nations at the Africa Cup of Nations. 

Baleba has been a standout performer for Brighton under Hurzeler, though the Seagulls boss said his position in the lineup was not guaranteed, following the return of Pascal Gross to the club this month. 

"First of all, Pascal is a player who makes the players around him better, so I hope Carlos will benefit from that," Hurzeler added. 

"Our thing is definitely that there is more competition. That's also what Carlos needs to understand. We have more midfielders now."

After a poor run of league results, Bournemouth have plummeted from top-four contenders to 15th place, but their victory over Spurs restored confidence in their ranks. 

Despite being knocked out of the FA Cup on penalties by Newcastle United, Bournemouth know a decent run of Premier League results will help them climb back up the table. 

However, Cherries boss Andoni Iraola believes that is only possible if new faces arrive at Vitality Stadium, having seen Semenyo depart in a reported £62.5m deal. 

"I cannot speak about players that are not our players. The club is working on trying to sign players," Iraola told reporters of Bournemouth's potential January business. 

"We are all aware of our situation, and now it is very delicate, and we need to add players. But you can't just decide that you need a player and you will sign a player.

"The club is working on different situations, open to different options, and we have to wait until we can close a deal."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brighton – Kaoru Mitoma

Mitoma has scored more Premier League goals against Bournemouth than any other opponent (five).

His next game will be his 100th in the competition, making him the third Japanese player to reach the milestone after Maya Yoshida (154) and Shinji Okazaki (114).

Bournemouth – Junior Kroupi

Nineteen-year-old Kroupi has been in fine form for the Cherries this season, scoring seven Premier League goals for Bournemouth.

Indeed, only four non-British teenagers have netted more in a single campaign – Nicolas Anelka in 1998-99 (13), Robbie Keane in 1999-00 (12), Romelu Lukaku in 2012-13 (14) and Kelechi Iheanacho in 2015-16 (eight).

MATCH PREDICTION: BRIGHTON WIN

Brighton have lost just one of their six Premier League home games against Bournemouth (W4 D1), winning the last four in a row since a 5-0 defeat in April 2019.

The Seagulls have also lost just two of their last 18 top-flight home games (W10 D6), with both defeats in that time coming against Aston Villa.

Hurzeler's team have avoided defeat in more different games when conceding first than any other side in the Premier League this season (seven – W3 D4). Meanwhile, no side has failed to win more different games when scoring first this term than Bournemouth (six – D4 L2).

Bournemouth are, however, out to go back-to-back. Following their 2-1 win at the Vitality Stadium in September, the Cherries are looking to complete just their second Premier League double over Brighton, after doing so in 2018-19.

And they come into this game with confidence. Their 3-2 win against Spurs last time out ended their 11-game winless run in the Premier League (D5 L6). They last won consecutive league games in August, a run of three, with the last two coming against Spurs and Brighton respectively.

And Brighton will want to stop shots from distance. Only Aston Villa (12) have scored more goals from outside the box in the Premier League than Bournemouth this season, with the Cherries’ 11 already their most in a single top-flight campaign.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Brighton – 52.2%

Draw – 24.4%

Bournemouth – 23.4%