Despite recent results putting Brighton back in the race for European football next season, Fabian Hurzeler insists they are not focusing on their league position ahead of welcoming Bournemouth to the Amex Stadium on Tuesday.

The Seagulls bounced back from their 7-0 humbling at the hands of Nottingham Forest at the start of February with back-to-back wins over Chelsea and Southampton without conceding in the league.

It means they are ninth in the Premier League table heading into matchday 27, and they are just three points off the top seven.

Hurzeler says their sole focus is the game ahead of them though, as they aim to keep building on their recent momentum.

"I never look that much at the table. We can only influence our games and how we play," Hurzeler said.

"At the end of the season, we can look at the table - at the moment it's game by game to get the best performance out of the players.

"[Bournemouth] play very intensely. It will be a challenge for us to compete against them. We have to keep the standards we've had in the past weeks, and we have to improve to be ready for the challenge."

Bournemouth, meanwhile, sit in sixth, three points better off than their opponents, but go into the game having lost 1-0 to Wolves last time out.

They have had injury problems in recent months, with forward Evanilson not playing since January 4. However, he was an unused substitute against Wolves, and Andoni Iraola remained positive about his potential involvement on Tuesday.

"The problem with Evanilson is that he hasn't trained," Iraola said.

"I think he could start, but the problem could be how long he could last, because he lacks the training days. The process you get with other injuries is normally more smooth."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brighton – Kaoru Mitoma

Kaoru Mitoma has been directly involved in more Premier League goals against Bournemouth than he has any other side (four goals, one assist), either scoring or assisting a goal in all four of his league meetings with the Cherries.

He has also scored one goal in each of his last three outings in all competitions.

Bournemouth – Justin Kluivert

Justin Kluivert has scored nine away goals in the Premier League this season, with all of these coming in his last seven appearances on the road in the competition.

No Bournemouth player has ever scored 10 away goals in a single top-flight campaign.

MATCH PREDICTION: BRIGHTON WIN

Brighton have won each of their last three home league games against Bournemouth, having been winless in their previous five against them beforehand (D3 L2).

In fact, Brighton have won four of their five games against Bournemouth in the Premier League since the Cherries were promoted in 2022 (L1). During Bournemouth's first stint in the competitions between 2015-16 and 2019-20, Brighton won just once (D1 L4).

The Seagulls beat Chelsea 3-0 in their last Premier League home game, ending a run of five without a win at the Amex Stadium (D3 L2). They last won consecutive home league matches in September 2023, the second of which was against Bournemouth.

Bournemouth, however, are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League away games, winning five and drawing two. The Cherries have scored at least twice in their last eight on the road, the longest run by a side in the competition since Liverpool between May and December 2021 (10).

Bournemouth are unbeaten in their last 10 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Premier League matches (D3 L7), though their last such defeat came against Brighton in April 2023 (0-2).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Brighton – 40.5%

Draw – 26.6%

Bournemouth – 32.8%