Ed Sheeran may have been the surprise package of the BRIT Award nominations last month, bagging more than anyone else, but the show itself looks like it's set to follow a much more predictable script on Tuesday: another Adele triumph.

Sheeran, who just turned 21, was nominated in four categories: best album for "+", single ("The A Team"), breakthrough act, and male solo artist.

He is up against Adele, the world's biggest selling singer of last year and fresh from a record-equaling six Grammy awards earlier this month, in the album and song categories.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes makes the 23-year-old Londoner the favorite to win in the female category as well as the big prize of the night, best album, for 21, which has sold more than six million copies in the United States alone.

It did not offer odds on the best single, but few would be surprised to see her take home the statuette for "Someone Like You."

As well as the awards, there are the performances, with both Sheeran and Adele set to take the stage at the O2 venue in London where the televised event will be held.

Adele chose the Grammys to make her comeback after undergoing surgery on her vocal cords late last year, but the BRITs will be a homecoming of sorts.

Also due to sing on the night are Rihanna, Coldplay, Noel Gallagher, Florence and the Machine, Bruno Mars and Blur, who will receive an outstanding contribution award.