It's 44 miles from Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park to Brighton's Amex Stadium. Not quite the 0.8 mile journey that Liverpool will make from Anfield to Goodison Park to play Everton in the Merseyside derby next month.

So it's pretty obvious the M23 separating south London and Brighton doesn't form any part of the Eagles' rivalry with the Seagulls.

So why do Palace and Brighton have a rivalry and where did it all start?

During the 1950s both sides developed a dislike for one another over their battles in the third tier but things escalated to new heights in 1976. 

At the time Palace were managed by Terry Venables while Alan Mullery was in charge of Brighton.

The pair had spent time together at Spurs during their playing days when Venables was playing as understudy to Mullery's captaincy at the club.

Both managers had the task of securing promotion from the Third Division when in charge of Palace and Brighton respectively, and the duo would lock horns five times that season. 

It was the second replay of their first round FA Cup tie that things spiralled out of control though, despite there already being tension on the terraces between both sets of fans.

With Palace leading 1-0 at the neutral venue of Stamford Bridge, Brighton were awarded a penalty. Brian Horton converted but the referee made him retake it due to encroachment - even though it was only the Palace players that had entered the box - and his second effort was saved.

Palace ended up 1-0 winners and at full-time an angry Mullery confronted referee Ron Challis, now affectionately known as "Challis of the Palace" at SE25.

As Mullery left the pitch he claims a Palace fan threw coffee over him and he felt obliged to respond.

He said: "As I was walking up the tunnel a load of boiling hot coffee was thrown over me by a Crystal Palace supporter. So I pulled a handful of change out of my pocket, threw it on the floor and shouted, 'That's all you're worth, Crystal Palace!' And I'd shout it at anybody who did that." 

Mullery was escorted off the pitch by police and later fined £100 after giving a two-fingered gesture towards the Palace supporters.

Palace and Brighton both went onto achieve promotion in the 1976/77 season before battling again in the Second Division the following year.

Since then meetings have not been as often as fans would have hoped for.

This will be the first top flight meeting between the two teams since 1981.

The Eagles have won six of the last 11 meetings, losing just twice in that sequence.

And while Brighton enjoyed success over the south London outfit back in 1981 as they finished two points above the relegation zone as Palace went down, the Eagles have enjoyed far greater success in previous meetings.

From winning the Second Division title in 1979 at Brighton's expense to Andy Johnson bagging a hat-trick in a 5-0 thrashing in 2002. 

Or perhaps being the first away team to record a win at their Amex Stadium in the autumn of 2011. 

Palace fans still have all the bragging rights, with the 2-0 win at the Amex in the play-offs in 2013 as Wilfried Zaha scored both goals to write his name into Palace folklore, the standout moment for their supporters.

But looking at the table right now it doesn't take a genius to work out Brighton, along with 18 other teams, are all smiling down on bottom-placed Palace.

Yet to take a point on the road, Roy Hodgson's side will hope to take some confidence from their 2-1 win over Stoke on Saturday to the coast this evening.

Palace hero Glenn Murray could be out to haunt his former side though. The veteran striker made over 100 appearance for the Seagulls in his first spell before being controversially sold to Palace.

He then netted 31 goals for the Eagles as they secured promotion to the Premier League in 2013. 

Now back at Brighton and firing on all cylinders, Murray insists he won't celebrate against his former side if he does score this evening.

"I had four fantastic years at Palace and was supported really well by the fans so I wouldn’t celebrate, no,” said Murray when asked how he would react to scoring.

One player who will be looking to celebrate to his heart's content if he delivers the goods once more down in Sussex is Palace talisman Zaha.

Having already taunted Brighton fans on social media with replays of his two-goal heroics from the play-offs, the Ivory Coast international has been making sure his team-mates are well and truly up for the fight, as revealed by team-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek this week.

The Chelsea loaned said: “We were at a signing the other day and Wilf was getting interviewed and the guy said, ‘How much do you hate Brighton on a scale of one to ten’.

“And Wilf goes, ‘11!’ So that tells me everything.

“I didn’t even know so when Wilf said that I was like ‘Ok, they don’t like each other then’, so looking forward to playing in it.”

Brighton fans often chanted "We're coming for you" at the end of last season as Chris Hughton's side secured their return to the top flight for the first time in 34 years.

But as Zaha pointed out in pre-season, it's Palace who have been waiting for their rivals to join them.

"There’s all the chat, them saying they’re coming for us,” Zaha said. “But we’ve been waiting in the Premier League for you, for ages. Now you’re finally here, you want to talk ...”

And talk both sides will, when one of football's stranger rivalries makes its Premier League bow this evening.