Three points separate the teams third and 11th in the Premier League during this final international break of the year. Although Liverpool are five points clear at the top, the battle to finish in the top four could be tighter than ever.
Much has been made of Nottingham Forest’s fine start and deservedly so after they flirted with relegation last season but with them on 19 points are Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton. Four goals separate the quartet.
Brighton’s start under Fabian Hürzeler has flown somewhat under the radar. The 31-year-old was named the Premier League manager of the month for August, becoming the youngest manager to win the award, but since then little fanfare was made about Brighton’s campaign until their 2-1 win over Manchester City.
The pressure was on Hürzeler from the outset. Brighton have a knack of making left-field appointments but to bring in a manager not born at the 1992 inception of the Premier League was an incredible risk.
Hürzeler has taken it in his stride. He started with a five-match unbeaten run and did not lose until the end of September. Crucial has been the backing from the board.
Mats Wieffer was one of six first-team additions in the summer. Photograph: James Marsh/REX/Shutterstock
Losing Billy Gilmour and in particular Pascal Gross could have negatively affected Brighton. But the board backed Hürzeler in the market, making Mats Wieffer and Matt O’Riley two of six first-team additions. As per Transfermarkt, only Chelsea spent more than Brighton in Europe during the summer.
Hürzeler and his predecessor Roberto De Zerbi, implement different gameplans, which meant a change in personnel was required. A possession return last season of 60.2% ranked fourth in the Premier League but that has dropped to 53.4% this season. The average number of Brighton passes per game has dropped from 619.7 to 479.
De Zerbi would often demand his players, particularly his centre-backs, hold the ball to invite pressure before breaking the lines. Over time, this approach became far less effective as opponents became wise to his style. Under Hürzeler, there is greater focus on quicker transitions. The defenders still rank high for passes per game, but Lewis Dunk (97.3 to 79.6) and Jan Paul van Hecke (85.7 to 70.7), Brighton’s two leaders for this metric, have experienced respective drops.
With the ball getting forward quicker, Brighton are looking to be more incisive. The number of attempted through-balls per game, for example, has risen from 1.6 last season to 2.4. Often one of the central midfielders drops between the centre-backs when the full-backs push forward to create overloads down the flanks.
Once Brighton have numerical superiority down the right or the left, they look to play vertically through the middle, aiming to exploit the space in a key area of the pitch. Although the onus is on the wingers to stretch the play, 29% of Brighton’s attacks come through the middle, the fourth-highest such return.
Premier League team of the week. Photograph: Premier League
It is a high-octane approach that opponents have struggled to contain, and one that comes straight out of the German coaching school. “Jürgen Klopp is a big, big role model for me, also [Thomas] Tuchel with his achievements,” Hürzeler said in August. “Julian Nagelsmann, he achieved amazing things for his young age.” Hürzeler is keen on leaving his own legacy in the Premier League and unsurprisingly looks to his compatriots for a blueprint.
Brighton are not the finished article, and this desire to commit players often leaves gaps at the back that can be exploited. Of the top 10 teams, only Aston Villa (17) have conceded more goals than Brighton (15), so Hürzeler needs to strike the right balance to maintain Brighton’s fine start. But after a monotonous end to De Zerbi’s reign, Hürzeler has proven a breath of fresh air at the Amex.
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