What Brighton's getting right, and what's gone wrong

Before the season, Brighton were seen by some as the most likely candidate to meaningfully punch above their weight in the Premier League. Although they had to deal with the departure of two regular starters last summer in João Pedro and Pervus Estupiñán, the rest of the core remained intact for Fabian Hürzeler to work with. Between their young guys accumulating another year of experience, and no European football to deal with, it wasn’t hard to imagine them being one of those sides where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Multiple outlets had them finishing in the top 5, with more conservative predictions still having them in contention for Europe.

Such optimism has not panned out for Brighton. They’re currently in 13th, and while relegation isn’t a worry for them since they’re nine points above 18th place West Ham, they have considerable work to do to get into contention for a European spot. The underlying numbers don’t suggest this has been an unlucky team either. Depending on the model utilized, they’re around mid-table for both expected goal difference and expected points.

What’s interesting with Brighton is when you watch them play, they give off the feel of a team that should be better than what they’re producing. In terms of style of play, they lean more towards having more control rather than playing at a helter skelter pace. According to Opta Analyst, they’re 7th in 10+ passes sequences per game, sequence time, and 6th in sequences coming from buildup. If you look at their zones of control from Opta Analyst, the output sort of looks like what you’d see from higher-end sides.

As with other clubs who have ball-playing goalkeepers, Brighton regularly utilize Bart Verbruggen to look for an easy out via 3v2s if the center-backs are being marked tightly. An interesting thing which occurs during buildup is having Jan Paul van Hecke move inwards as the right center-back to help relieve pressure during goal-kick routines or when Brighton have to recycle possession backwards. If he maintains his wide positioning on the right side, the left pivot (usually Yasin Ayari) moves deep to make a wall pass to van Hecke to try and progress play on the right side. van Hecke is extremely beneficial to have during these early buildup stages because of his dual threat in finding players between the lines or carrying into space. Via Opta Analyst, no player in the Premier League has had more progressive carries than him, either per 90 minutes or total. If opponents don’t have their defensive block set up, he’ll almost always try to feed teammates into space.

The way Brighton deploy their fullbacks is also important to mention. On the right side, Mats Wieffer regularly makes out-in movements to help create space for others to receive freely. It’s an interesting deployment for someone who was supposed to come into the Premier League as an out-and-out midfielder. On the left, Ferdi Kadıoğlu has been quite impressive during moments of inverting. While Brighton rarely go long, they’ll occasionally have Kadıoğlu or Wieffer dart into spaces you’d commonly see from a ST when Danny Welbeck is positioned in deeper areas.

Higher up the pitch is where things can become more turgid for Brighton. Something they often try to do is flood the halfspaces, banking on the progressive passing from van Hecke and to a lesser extent Lewis Dunk to feed through the channels. From there, they’ll try to create quick combinations to speed up the tempo of play. During times of sustained possession around the final third, Brighton’s midfielders will sometimes push up into forward spaces with runs from deep. Crossing isn’t a trademark of their final third play, ranking in the bottom half on a per match basis.

The attacking results have been decent yet unspectacular. In all situations, Brighton are middle of the pack for both non-penalty shots and non-penalty expected goals. Strictly in open play, Statsbomb has them above average in expected goals. When it goes well, Brighton are capable of slick interchanges of play and crashing the box with speed. Those opportunities don’t always work out, partly due to questionable decision making during pivotal moments.

Out of possession, Brighton have certainly been one of the most aggressive sides in the league. According to Opta Analyst, only Liverpool and Everton have accumulated more pressing sequences. Statsbomb has Brighton with both the most pressure attempts overall, and in the opposition half. Via Opta Analyst, they’re 3rd in starting distance and 2nd in high turnovers generated.

At their best, Brighton display a fierce press where they win the ball high up and look to turn defense into attack. This is particularly true when they’re able to shift the opponent towards the right side, utilizing their 4-4-2 shape without the ball. They’ll use the touchline as an extra defender, and can end up outnumbering the opposition to quickly combine before launching an aggressive forward pass.

Brighton’s press is largely man-to-man, although sometimes they’ll have to cheat by having someone defend zonally so Lewis Dunk can be kept as a spare man within the backline. Opponents who can create numerical superiority in midfield have found success in handling the press. Liverpool’s two victories in both the league and FA Cup were examples of them being able to play through Brighton’s press. The FA Cup matchup in particular was illustrative because of how Alexis Mac Allister was able to find space to maneuver in, breezing past Pascal Groß when needed.

There’ve been other issues Brighton have had to contend with while defending. One of them is when opponents look to go deep from long balls. In analyzing how teams operate out of possession, The Athletic (via SkillCorner) showed them to face the 4th most time defending direct balls. During Aston Villa’s 1-0 victory from early February, they had some success with Emi Martinez launching into a 2v2 in Brighton’s own half, creating momentum from winning the initial duel to attack with space. Suppressing counters have also been a problem for The Seagulls. Only Newcastle and Bournemouth have conceded more fast break opportunities per match, according to Opta Analyst. This is usually a trade off for teams who are on the front foot, even despite Brighton being the PL’s best at counterpressure regains. If the jumps to try and box in the opposition don’t come off, there’s a lot of space to have to defend and PL teams across the board have become formidable at creating against a non-set defense.

Brighton are an interesting team in the present. There are the outlines of a formidable attack in open play, regularly bypassing the opposition press through flexible buildup play. Turning patient buildup into artificial transitions is something that ball-dominant sides constantly look to create. The final third play hasn’t quite gelled as needed, partly due to personnel. Out of possession, the press has been formidable at its best, although certain clubs have been able to play through it. Some low hanging fruit for them which they’ve not taken advantage of is turning high turnovers into shots. From Opta Analyst, Brighton’s 14.1% clip is in the bottom half of the league. On the whole, things have been tough for them in 2026, although their first half performance versus Nottingham Forest in a 2-1 victory displayed the upside they have going forward.

If there’s one reason as to why Brighton’s attack has not been at the level needed to succeed, it’s been the lack of verve coming from the flanks. This season has been a tough one for Kaoru Mitoma, having dealt with injuries and never fully finding his best form. Only 3 goals and assists from 16 PL starts is a far cry from what he’s been able to produce in previous seasons. When he was out for the majority of the fall, Brighton tried various players on the left wing, with no one producing at a high level. Yankuba Minteh had a promising debut season in 2024-25, but hasn’t built upon it in year two. While he’s still getting into advantageous areas on the right side, those crucial final actions haven’t come off in a consistent manner. Prospect development is not always linear, so it’s possible Minteh’s third year will be the one where major strides are taken, which is sorely needed if the club wants to make a big jump.

With teams like this Brighton squad who have a bunch of young guys getting regular minutes, the hope is enough of them make reasonable leaps for the club to overperform. That hasn’t quite been the case for The Seagulls this season. Their attack has not been firing at all cylinders, while the out of possession work has been promising but susceptible against certain opponents. Perhaps further tweaks to the squad this summer could help elevate them going forward, but such a conversation is for another day.

Brighton have achieved impressive results under Tony Bloom’s leadership, but taking the next step to becoming a regular European contender has proven difficult, and this season has been an undeniable step backwards.

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