However, their pursuit for European football will take a back seat this weekend, as they bid to reach the FA Cup semi-final for just the third time in their history.
Many Brighton fans will likely be already booking their hotels and travel to Wembley with Roberto De Zerbi’s men heavy favourites against their fourth-tier opponents.
Their chances are only magnified by the fact the game is being played at home, and Brighton have won five of their last six competitive matches here conceding only two goals in the process.
Additionally, as a top-flight team, Brighton have progressed from 14 of their 16 FA Cup ties against sides from a lower division.
Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst joked after the draw was made for this game that he’d be suffering from “panic, worry and fear” when this game finally came around.
Yet even though he was quick to play down his team’s chances, write them off at your own peril.
The determined League Two outfit this season became the first side in FA Cup history to dispatch five teams from a higher division in a single edition of the competition (first round onwards).
If the Lincolnshire club could somehow pull this one off, then they’d not only make club history, but competition history too as none of the previous four sides from England’s fourth-tier to make the quarter-final have ever managed to secure progression.
While they face a tall order to do that, Grimsby will at least arrive in good form after losing just one of their previous eight outings in all competitions (W4, D3).
Players to watch: Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma is in red hot form and has recorded a goal contribution in each of his team’s last four matches (G1, A3).
Grimsby opponent Gavan Holohan has been loving his trips in this competition with three goals across his last two away FA Cup games.
Hot streak: From the second round onwards, Grimsby have scored first in all five of their FA Cup ties.
