The WAB Brighton Player Power Rankings: October 2020
There was hardly anything to choose between the top two in our WAB Brighton Player Power Rankings to find the Albion’s best player in October 2020.
With every individual who played more than 15 minutes in the month scored out of 100, just 0.14 points separated Solly March and Yves Bissouma at the head of the ratings.
That hardly comes as a surprise. Both players enjoyed outstanding months having been two of Graham Potter’s most consistent performers so far in 2020-21.
Here are the full WAB Power Rankings for the 16 players who turned out for the Albion in a winless October.
1) Solly March (62.62 points)
Another excellent month for the left wing back who completes the double by topping the Power Rankings as Brighton & Hove Albion’s best rated player having also been voted as our WAB October 2020 Player of the Month. His season could be about to get even better with rumours swirling about a shock England call up for November’s internationals.
2) Yves Bissouma (62.48)
Returned from suspension in the 4-2 defeat away at Everton with the sort of spectacular long distance goal that is fast becoming his trademark. Might have topped the Power Rankings had he not been the Albion’s second-worst scoring player against West Bromwich Albion in a rare off evening.
3) Ben White (59.53)
Endured a bit of a nightmare away at Everton where his score of 4.60 put him bottom of the player ratings. Potter moved him into midfield after that and his performances were much improved to push him into third spot.
4) Tariq Lamptey (58.48)
The outstanding player of the 2020-21 season so far was a little quieter in October by his high standards. That is in part because opponents realise that he is such a threat that they have begun double marking him – which has helped to create more space down the opposite flank for March to exploit.
5) Adam Webster (58.48)
A good October saw him named as Brighton captain in Lewis Dunk’s absence through suspension. He has been on the end of a fair bit of criticism, but finishing as the Albion’s best centre back in the October Power Rankings suggests that he has not been as bad as people make out.
6) Maty Ryan (56.67)
Made a couple of excellent saves in the early stages at Everton to prevent the Toffee’s racking up an even bigger score. Had nothing to do in the 1-1 draw at Palace other than pick Wilfried Zaha’s penalty out the back of the net before conceding a West Brom equaliser that appeared to be straight at him. A strange month.
7) Neal Maupay (53.90)
Scored away at Everton and his return of four goals already is over a third of the total he managed in the entire 2019-20 season. Realistically though, he should be on eight or nine given the number of simple chances missed.
8) Leandro Trossard (53.43)
Last month’s best Brighton player according to the Power Rankings was nowhere near as effective in October as he was moved from the number 10 role to play alongside Maupay. The jury is out on whether he works as a more traditional striker.
9) Dan Burn (38.95)
One of 2019-20’s standout performers has had to wait patiently for an opportunity this season. It came against Palace when White was moved into midfield. The highlight of his month was a striding run forward which played a big part in the Brighton goal when West Brom came to the Amex.
10) Adam Lallana (37.33)
Would be much higher up the rankings had he been given more than some late minutes against Everton. Showed some nice touches at Palace and was the best Brighton player on the pitch in the final game of October against West Brom until his substitution on the hour mark, after which the Albion folded like napkins.
11) Alexis Mac Allister (36.57)
His only October action came from the substitute’s bench with one of those two cameos resulting in a place in the history books thanks to his 90th minute equaliser away at Selhurst Park.
12) Lewis Dunk (35.24)
After a bit of a below par September, things didn’t get much better in the second month of the season for the Albion captain. His red card against Palace came for an indefensible two footed challenged on Gary Cahill and he also struggled against the threat posed by Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Everton.
13) Joel Veltman (34.00)
The summer signing from Ajax made his Premier League debut against Everton although that was quite a chastening experience. Much better when taking over from the suspended Dunk at the heart of the Albion back three when West Brom came to the Amex.
14) Aaron Connolly (32.48)
Made just one start in October at Everton and he struggled to make much headway. Played a part in Mac Allister’s late leveller at Palace but failed to make it off the bench against West Brom, a controversial decision from Potter given that most Albion fans could see that his pace could stretch the Baggies defence and break their dominance.
15) Steve Alzate (31.33)
Enjoyed a very good September, went off on international duty with Colombia and has barely been seen since. Quite what he has done to be dropped remains a bit of a mystery.
16) Pascal Gross (14.00)
The German playmaker’s only minutes came as a substitute against West Brom. Just as with Connolly sitting on the bench, that was another strange decision from Potter given that Brighton should have been injecting pace into their side to turn the tide in a game that was slipping away from them.
The WAB Power Rankings are formulated through our matchday player scores. To play your part in helping formulate them, make sure to follow us on Twitter and leave your post game player ratings in the relevant thread.
