EPL: Brighton take unbeaten record to Fulham

LONDON, England (AP):

Brighton are the big surprise after the first four rounds of the English Premier League (EPL), with Graham Potter’s team taking their unbeaten record today to Fulham at the start of a midweek round of games.

Brighton have three wins – against Manchester United, West Ham and in-form Leeds – and a draw so far and have only conceded one goal. The south-coast club is defying expectations following the sale of two key players during the off-season – Marc Cucurella to Chelsea and Yves Bissouma to Tottenham.

In three other games today, Chelsea visit Southampton and welcomes back defender Kalidou Koulibaly from suspension, Leeds host Everton and Brentford visit Crystal Palace.

In Italy, AC Milan and Inter Milan – last season’s top two finishers – warm up for Saturday’s derby by facing Sassuolo and Cremonese, respectively. Milan’s 21-year-old playmaker Charles De Ketelaere is the talk of the town after he lit up the San Siro with his crosses and an assist for the first goal in a 2-0 win over Bologna on Saturday in his first start since joining from Club Brugge.

Inter, meanwhile, are looking to bounce back from a discouraging 3-1 loss at Lazio. But the Nerazzurri are without striker Romelu Lukaku, who picked up a muscle issue in training. Also, Jose Mourinho’s unbeaten Roma host Silvio Berlusconi’s Monza, who have lost their first three matches.

In Germany, defending champions Leipzig will host Teutonia Ottensen for their postponed German Cup first-round game. Hamburg-based Ottensen, an amateur side playing at fourth-tier level, were originally supposed to host the match but were forced to look for an alternative venue as their stadium uses artificial grass. Hosting it locally also proved difficult as St Pauli, for one, declined a request to make their stadium available for Leipzig’s visit.

Leipzig are unpopular among rival clubs and supporters due to their heavy backing from an energy drinks company which has financed their fast rise for marketing purposes. Ottensen eventually settled on hosting the match in Dessau but vandals destroyed the grass at the Paul-Greifzu-Stadion with a suspected chemical substance last week, making the surface unplayable. The German football federation said it had no option but to host the game in Leipzig.