Football commentator Gary Taphouse is reporting that Wolves have been forced into a late change with Rayan Ait-Nouri suffering a groin injury in the warm-up, with Fernando Marcal coming into the side.

Lots of empty seats at the Amex as the players head out ahead of kick-off. Is that because of Covid checks outside? Or maybe a reluctance to attend with the sudden rise in confirmed cases?

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At home, Arsenal are useful. Very useful.

The Gunners are currently undefeated in seven home league matches, winning the last four in a row. They have never won five in a row at the Emirates under manager Mikel Arteta.

Tonight, they could also win four successive league games at the Emirates without conceding for the first time since May 2017. The fourth victory in that sequence came against a Sunderland side managed by a certain David Moyes.

To further fuel their confidence tonight, Arsenal have lost just two of their 36 Premier League home matches played on a Wednesday.

However, one of those defeats was against West Ham in February 2006.

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Arsenal and West Ham may be contending for Champions League places this season but last season they played out a helter-skelter at London Stadium.

The Hammers raced into a three-goal lead in the first half and looked set to continue their march towards European football.

Jesse Lingard opened the scoring with a stunning volley before Jarrod Bowen nudged them further ahead less than two minutes later.

Tomas Soucek seemed to have put the result beyond doubt when he touched home Michail Antonio's header but Alexandre Lacazette's shot deflected off Soucek and in to give Arsenal hope.

A Hammers player scored for the fifth time when Craig Dawson inadvertently turned Calum Chambers' cross past his own goalkeeper in the second half before Lacazette's powerful header completed the comeback with eight minutes left.

West Ham remained in fifth, just two points behind Chelsea and a comfortable seven points in front of the Gunners who slipped to ninth.

Pat Nevin
Former Scotland winger on BBC Radio 5 Live

Every now and then, a situation arrives where actually, is anyone at fault?

There are circumstances that come and they can come up very, very late. They are damned if they do, and damned if they don't.

If they were to find out there are cases and they went ahead with it, they would get abuse for it. And the clubs can only do their best themselves, when they get that information through, they will get it out as quickly as possible.

It's a tough one for the Premier League, there's no obvious way around it.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

It's in nobody’s interest - especially the Watford fans who have obviously travelled north - for the game to be called off two hours before kick off.

I can only assume Watford have had positive news within the camp, they've had to get lots of tests done, they've had to wait for those test results to come back and as soon as they have done that, they have informed the Premier League and they have called the match off.

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Lawro's prediction: 2-1

Southampton are on a bad run of results, but I was still expecting more of a fight from them than we saw in their defeat by Arsenal on Saturday.

Until last weekend, Crystal Palace had hit a bit of a sticky patch too, but they played well against Everton at Selhurst Park on Sunday and I think they will have a real go at Saints as well.

Martin's prediction: 2-0

Palace are doing really well. Conor Gallagher has got to get one, just for my fantasy team.

Find out how Lawro and Martin think the rest of the week's fixtures will go

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Southampton narrowed the gap on 13th-placed Palace to one point after coming from behind to win an entertaining encounter at St Mary's.

Danny Ings returned from injury to inspire Ralph Hasenhuttl's side, first firing home the equaliser before rounding off the scoring late on when he finished smartly from Che Adams' through ball.

In between, Adams had completed the comeback with Saints' second goal from Stuart Armstrong's cross.

It was a frustrating evening for Palace boss Roy Hodgson as not only did Christian Benteke get them off to a perfect start with his second-minute opener but also Luka Milivojevic had his penalty saved with the score at 1-1.

The result ended Southampton's four games without a win as they pushed to finish the season strongly.

Image source, BBC Sport

• Crystal Palace have lost five of their last eight Premier League home games against Southampton (won three), though they did win this exact fixture 1-0 last season.
• Of teams they’ve faced at least 10 times in the Premier League, Southampton haven't won a higher share of their games in the competition than against Crystal Palace (58% - 14/24).
• Palace striker Christian Benteke has scored six goals in his last nine Premier League games against Southampton – only against Chelsea and Sunderland (seven each) has he scored more in the league.

Bruno Lage was asked about Steven Gerrard's comments on checking the vaccination status of players before signing them.

Lage said every member of his Wolves squad is double-jabbed and he could see why some clubs might take that approach in the transfer window.

"All we want as managers is our players fit and available for the games," Lage said.

"I don’t care about my players lives when they are outside of the building. They are professionals and know what they have to do.

"As a manager, I want my players available every time. Training hard and being available for me to do my best work.

"When you invest a lot of money in one player, because we are living in different times maybe after that you can think about it.

"What I want in the end, is everyone available for playing."

Johnny Cantor
BBC Sussex commentator

To play or not to play? That is the question.

Well, it’s the question many Albion fans will have been toying with before the game against Wolves.

The injury list is extensive - up to seven including captain Lewis Dunk - Shane Duffy is suspended and "three or four" players have tested positive for Covid.

However, the chance to end the 10-game winless run is attractive, key Wolves striker Raul Jimenez is banned for the game and no-one wants a fixture backlog.

The home form has been an issue. The fans booing in the Leeds game may have been the minority, but the lack of goals at the Amex has compounded the frustration. The elation of 89th and 98th-minute equalisers from Neal Maupay was reserved for the travelling fans.

The home supporters will want some Christmas cheer from this and the Brentford game on Boxing Day, with tricky trips to Manchester United and Chelsea to come over the festive period.

The Seagulls have slipped into the bottom half of the table but still have a healthy 10-point cushion on the relegation zone heading into the midweek matches.

Graham Potter will need to shuffle his pack over the next few weeks, but there are not many as adept as the 46 year old at finding a solution when lateral thinking and a flexible strategy are required.

Image source, BBC Sport

Lawro's prediction: 2-1

Wolves have not won any of their past four games, while Brighton's wait for three points has gone on even longer - 10 matches, stretching back to 19 September.

It is the Seagulls I am going with here, though.

Both sides have averaged less than a goal a game this season and they usually don't concede many either, but I just wonder if they might both go for it a little bit more here and throw more men forward, because they think this game is winnable.

Martin's prediction: 2-1

This is my mate's prediction, who is a Brighton fan.

Find out how Lawro and Martin think the rest of the week's fixtures will go

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It was a frustrating afternoon for the Seagulls, who took the lead but then had Lewis Dunk sent off, conceded two late goals and went down to nine men in injury time as Neal Maupay also saw red.

Dunk opened the scoring in the first half when he nodded in a corner but was given his marching orders after hauling down Fabio Silva when through on goal.

A youthful Wolves needed a spark and found one through substitute Adama Traore who levelled matters after a neat one-two with Silva.

Morgan Gibbs-White then grabbed the winner in injury time, finishing clinically after the ball broke in the box.

With seconds left, Maupay's frustrations boiled over and he was dismissed after a confrontation with referee Jon Moss.

Image source, BBC Sport

• After winning their first Premier League meeting with Wolves in October 2018, Brighton are winless in their last five against them in the competition (drawn four, lost one).
• Wolves won 2-1 against Brighton in their last league meeting in May, but they’ve never won consecutive league games against the Seagulls before.

Graham Potter has labelled Brighton's match against Wolves as a "really exciting challenge" and heaped praise on Bruno Lage's team.

It had been a difficult start for Wolves, but they are now ninth - a point ahead of Brighton - despite back-to-back defeats against Liverpool and Manchester City.

For Brighton, the hot start to the campaign has cooled somewhat, but a win on Wednesday will see them leapfrog their opponents.

Potter believes it will be a tough match: "We are going to need our supporters. We are going to need to understand the patience and how Wolves are really, really good defensively - so we will need to be at our best."

"They have improved from what was already good under Nuno [Espirito Santo]. Bruno [Lage] has come in and added his own bits, without changing too much there.

"They are an experienced team. The two midfield players can control the game really well for them,. There is good shape and structure about them.

"They got off to a bad start in terms of results, but performances were really good. They’ve turned that round. Recently they have played Liverpool and City - narrow defeats, but it goes to show how organised they are defensively.

"They defend as a team really well so don’t concede many chances. It will be a really exciting challenge for us.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport at Turf Moor

I had literally just arrived at Turf Moor when tonight's game was called off.

I am speaking to 5 Live Sport shortly and then heading back.

Some of the hospitality areas are still open but everyone else has to find something else to do with their evening.

That's three Premier League games in four days that have been called off now, which is a worry.

Evidently, the timing of this one was particularly problematic for the Watford fans.

The Premier League are adamant they call games off as quickly as they can.

Image source, BBC Sport

As part of the new Covid measures announced by the government, supporters will need to show proof of double vaccination or a negative test to attend sporting events with crowds of more than 10,000 people in England. So that is what awaits fans travelling to grounds for the games this evening.

Many clubs have advised fans to get to grounds early to avoid potentially lengthy queues as checks take place.

Brighton vice-chairman and chief executive Paul Barber has explained the checks Seagulls fans should expect at the Amex on Wednesday.

"We are asking people to be patient," Barber told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"Doing this in the pitch dark for the first time is not ideal, but throughout this time, the vast majority of people have been supportive, compliant and respectful of staff. We expect that to continue."

Brighton, along with all Premier League clubs, have worked out their plans with the local authorities.

They include carrying out random checks on ticket-holders, blocking tickets until the owner has shown their Covid status and also stopping people at turnstiles.

They will also be asking fans to carry photo ID to prove the Covid pass belongs to them.

"We expect we'll carry out checks on about 20% of our supporters, which is five to six thousand people," Barber said.

"It's an uncontrollable situation at that moment, but it's incumbent on us to keep everyone as safe as possible.

"Hopefully, if we can get a combination of common sense, consideration for others and compliance, we'll be able to keep people safe and keep our stadiums open during this period."