Brighton and Hove Albion are flying in the Premier League thanks to a team-wide collective effort.
Even picking the Seagulls’ best player of the season so far would be a hard task. There are many different players shining in their own respective ways, making sure that the team works as a whole.
This manifests, specifically, in terms of scoring goals. Brighton have the best attack in the division with 24 goals, but they are well spread out throughout the squad.
How and why so many players score for Brighton?
The numbers
Brighton’s 24 goals are quite the opposite of Manchester City‘s 20, the second most in the Premier League. Erling Haaland carries most of the load himself, being responsible for 45% of their goals (9).
At the AMEX, the situation is different. Not only do the Seagulls lead the division in goals scored but also in the amount of goalscorers (11).
| Goalscorer | Goals |
|---|---|
| Charalampos Kostoulas | 3 |
| Jack Hinshelwood | 3 |
| Pascal Gross | 3 |
| Yasin Ayari | 3 |
| Malick Yalcouye | 2 |
| Maxim De Cuyper | 2 |
| Chema Andres | 1 |
| Diego Gomez | 1 |
| Jaouen Hadjam | 1 |
| Lewis Dunk | 1 |
| Luka Voskovic | 1 |
| Own goals | 3 |
They are also joint-first in the number of footballers on 3+ goals so far this season (4). Chelsea also have four (Morgan Rogers, Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto).
As a result, they are also on the other end of the table when it comes to how many goals their top scorer has managed. A total of 11 different players have scored more goals across the Premier League than the quartet of Kostoulas, Hinshelwood, Gross and Ayari.
Only Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Ipswich Town, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest have their top scorers on fewer goals than the Seagulls.
Reflection of their play style
Having a reliable goalscorer in the team always brings comfort to the fans, who know they can expect a certain player to show up consistently. The likes of Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak and Joao Pedro have certainly provided that for their respective clubs.
But reliable strikers are not that easy to come by, and the Premier League is not exactly a welcoming competition. Players have to work hard to find their way to the back of the net. Brighton not having that may not be as bad or worrying as some may think.
In fact, Fabian Hurzeler’s play style fuels their current ‘everybody eats’ kind of system. The Seagulls rank first both in goals from set pieces (9) and from outside the box (5). This increases the range of positions of players that could score for them.
We have even seen Lewis Dunk score a long-range screamer against Coventry City. As well as both Gross and Kostoulas finding the net from distance in their famous 3-0 win over Arsenal.
Not to mention the amount of runs from behind that their midfielders perform. Which highlights how the likes of Ayari and Hinshelwood are both among their top scorers with three goals each.
But the constant movement from their centre-forwards also helps them get in good goalscoring positions. Both Kostoulas and Georginio Rutter, who are usually deployed up front, move around a lot and create space for midfielders to run into.
Another important factor of how they play that empowers players that normally wouldn’t score many goals is their aggressive and sharp man-to-man press.
Depending on how the opponent tries to manipulate them, Brighton players can be moved around. In case they end up in unconventional positions but still manage to recover possession near the goal, that’s half the battle.
It’s what happened in the Premier League opener against Aston Villa. Ayari started as one of the defensive midfielders in the double pivot alongside Gross. But he found himself inside the box tracking Boubacar Kamara and then quickly switched to Joao Gomes as the Brazilian received the ball from Marco Bizot facing him directly.
His challenge against Gomes is what won the Seagulls the ball back and left Hinshelwood with a clear-cut opportunity. The Englishman did not waste and made it 4-0 in the 31st minute.
Turns out that not having one main, reliable scorer not only may not a bad thing for Brighton, but could be one of the reasons as to why they have been so impressive this season.