- Founded 1901
- Stadium Falmer Stadium
- Manager Fabian Hurzeler
- Competition Premier League 2026-27
- Goals 16
- Goals Conceded 5
- Yellow Cards 12
- Total Red Cards
Brighton Squawka Score Ratings 2026/27
Brighton have scored 16 goals in five games and go into the international break third. Fabian Hürzeler’s side opened with a 4-0 win over Aston Villa, lost a remarkable 4-3 at Chelsea, drew 1-1 with Leeds, then put five past Coventry without reply and beat Arsenal 3-0. Only Manchester City have taken more points. Below, we take a look at Brighton’s most-used XI so far and how each player has performed, based on the Squawka Score rating system.
The Squawka Score is a metric developed to assess a player’s performance relative to other players in the same position. It is shown as a percentage, and it is worth knowing that 66% is average rather than 50% – a 70% is a good afternoon and 85% or above marks out one of the best players on the pitch. Each score is calculated from a range of per-90-minute statistics, taking in the obvious numbers such as goals and assists alongside some more obscure ones that are far more position-specific. A player’s season figure is simply the average of his match ratings.
GK: Bart Verbruggen – 60% – Three clean sheets in five and only five goals conceded, which on the face of it is an excellent return. The rating is dragged down by an error leading to a goal and by how little he has had to do: 12 saves in five full games is among the lightest workloads in the division.
RB: Ferdi Kadıoğlu – 58% – The lowest rating in the side. Four starts have brought six duels won against 11 lost, one tackle won and an error leading to a shot. He has been tidy enough moving the ball forward with 47 passes into the final third, but the defensive numbers are thin.
RCB: Luka Vušković – 69% – A superb start from the teenager. Thirty-one clearances, 29 duels won, 16 aerials and 40 progressive passes, plus a goal from eight shots. He has been the most complete defender at the club and has not been charged with a single error.
LCB: Lewis Dunk – 65% – Four starts for the captain, with 16 clearances, 13 aerials won and 41 progressive passes, the most of any Brighton player. A goal from a set piece is a useful addition. An error leading to a shot is the only thing separating him from his usual standard.
LB: Olivier Boscagli – 66% – Seven chances created, two of them clear-cut, 29 passes into the penalty area and 72 into the final third from left-back. He has also won 20 duels and made 17 clearances. Nine fouls is the drag on an otherwise well-rounded return.
RCM: Pascal Groß – 76% – At 35, the most productive midfielder in the league so far. Three goals and three assists, 15 chances created with four of them clear-cut, 1.23 xA and 35 passes into the penalty area. He has taken 15 corners and scored Brighton’s only penalty. Every minute played.
LCM: Yasin Ayari – 63% – A goal from 10 shots and 0.82 xG, so he is arriving in the box regularly enough. Nine duels won to 16 lost and an error leading to a shot are what hold him below the average in a side that has otherwise controlled games.
RW: Diego Gómez – 67% – Two assists, 1.21 xA and seven chances created, with 14 shots of his own and 22 touches in the opposition box. Forty duels lost is the highest figure at the club and the reason the rating is not higher, but the output has been there.
AM: Malick Yalcouyé – 78% – Brighton’s highest-rated player and the most exciting of the lot. Two goals from seven shots and 1.31 xG, five chances created, 22 touches in the opposition box and 18 duels won to nine lost, all in only three starts. On this evidence he should be starting every week.
LW: Maxim De Cuyper – 70% – A goal, two assists and 11 chances created, three of them clear-cut, with a club-leading 36 passes into the penalty area. He also takes 12 of the corners. A genuinely dangerous left-sided attacker in a side full of them.
ST: Charalampos Kostoulas – 68% – Two goals and an assist from four starts, with 13 shots, five on target and 21 touches in the opposition box. Four big chances missed is the number keeping him from a higher figure, and Brighton’s scoring has come from all over the pitch rather than through him.
Brighton’s set-piece specialists:
- Penalties: Pascal Groß
- Free-kicks: Pascal Groß, Maxim De Cuyper
- Corners: Pascal Groß, Maxim De Cuyper
Groß has taken 15 of Brighton’s corners to De Cuyper’s 12, and nobody else has taken one. Groß also converted the only penalty Brighton have been awarded, which settles a question that was open at the start of the season.
Brighton FAQs
How have Brighton started the 2026/27 season?
Superbly. Brighton are third on 10 points from five games, with three wins, a draw and one defeat, and have scored 16 goals – more than any other side in the division.
Who is Brighton’s best player this season?
Malick Yalcouyé rates highest on 78%, though from only three starts. Across a full run of games it is Pascal Groß on 76%, with three goals and three assists.
Where did Brighton finish in the 2025/26 Premier League season?
Brighton & Hove Albion recorded another eighth-placed finish in the Premier League.
Who is the Brighton manager?
Fabian Hürzeler, who is now in his third season as Brighton manager after being appointed in the summer of 2024.
Who is the current Brighton captain?
The long-serving Lewis Dunk is the current Seagulls skipper, a position he has held since the beginning of the 2019/20 campaign.
Will Brighton play in Europe in 2026/27?
Yes, Brighton are in the Conference League this season. Their only other European campaign came in 2023/24, when they topped their Europa League group before losing to Roma in the last 16.