Brighton Player Ratings October 2023
Brighton went winless through three October matches in the Premier League but none of that really mattered as the Seagulls secured their first ever points in Europe.
Goals from Pascal Gross and Joao Pedro saw the Albion come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against 1995 Champions League winners Marseille in the hostile environment of the Stade Velodrome.
Three weeks later and Brighton picked up a maiden Europa League win, beating four time European champions Ajax 2-0 at the Amex on a night nobody is likely to forget in a hurry.
Domestically, a tough set of fixtures did not give the Albion much chance of putting three points on the board. Title chasing Liverpool were held to a creditable 2-2 draw in Sussex.
A poor first half display at the Etihad Stadium proved costly in a 2-1 defeat to treble winners Manchester City before Brighton once again struggled against their kryptonite Fulham, drawing 1-1 with the Cottagers.
Roberto De Zerbi continued to chop and change his Brighton team with heavy rotation throughout October and that means only one man achieves a score higher than seven in the player ratings.
No prizes for guessing who. Captain Lewis Dunk started every match and was a towering presence at both ends of the pitch, also ending up a landslide winner of our WAB October 2023 Player of the Month vote.
Lewis Dunk – 7.10
His goal saving, last ditch block with Marseille leading 2-1 proved the springboard from which Brighton completed a famous comeback. Scored the equaliser against Liverpool and gave an unreal performance against City in which he defended resolutely and never wasted a pass. Was even voted England man of the match for his performance in the 1-0 friendly win over Australia.
Carlos Baleba – 6.93
Excellent against Liverpool, decent in the draw with Fulham and second place in the Brighton October player ratings underlines his rich potential. He does though remain very raw, as the catastrophic mistake in gifting the ball to Erling Haaland of all people for City’s second at the Etihad showed.
Joao Pedro – 6.88
Mr Europa League added two more goals to his European collection. Nerves of steel to convert a last minute penalty in the cauldron of the Velodrome followed by a poacher’s finish to give the Albion the lead over Ajax.
Ansu Fati – 6.70
De Zerbi has erred on the side of caution with the Barcelona number 10 but in October, we got to see more of what Fati is all about. Scored off the bench against City and added the second in the win over Ajax.
Kaoru Mitoma – 6.59
It says a lot about Mitoma that October felt like a quiet month for the Japanese Bullet Train and yet here he still is, riding high in the top five of the player ratings. Just the one assist from five outings when teeing up Pascal Gross for the first Brighton goal at Marseille.
Pascal Gross – 6.52
Marked his return from two games out injured – one of which was the 6-1 debacle away against Aston Villa – by bringing some much needed calm to midfield at Marseille. He scored in the Velodrome and assisted Evan Ferguson opening the scoring in the draw with Fulham.
Simon Adingra – 6.51
The beneficiary of Solly March suffering a heart breaking ACL injury, Adingra has made the most of the greater game time which has come his way. Developing a burgeoning understanding with Fati and Pedro whilst his strike from 30 yards against Liverpool catching Alisson Becker unawares showed real intelligence after dispossessing Alexis Mac Allister of all people.
Joel Veltman – 6.48
We know De Zerbi is keen to rest players this season, but why Veltman spends so much time out of the team is a genuine mystery. Rarely puts a foot wrong (although he did struggle in the first half against Marseille) and the Albion always look more shaky defensively when he sits on the bench. See the absolute nightmare 45 minutes James Milner endured at the Etihad Stadium for exhibit A.
Igor Julio – 6.18
Igor! Igor! Igor! An unconvincing first two months as an Albion player was banished to memory with a colossal showing in the Liverpool game. That earned him a run of starts with solid outings following against City and Fulham.
Billy Gilmour – 6.16
Having been one of Brighton’s best players through August and September, Gilmour found himself a big victim of De Zerbi rotation in October. Four substitute appearances and started only the Ajax game in which he was pretty average.
Evan Ferguson – 5.48
The teenage striking sensation has not really looked right since illness, injury or whatever it was which ruled him out immediately after his sensational hat-trick past Newcastle United the previous month. His only goal of October was a clinical finish drilled into the bottom corner against Fulham.
Jason Steele – 6.22
De Zerbi appeared to have dropped his plans to give Steele and Bart Verbruggen a 50-50 split of matches with the star of Sunderland Till I Die starting four of the Seagulls’ five October matches. Not great against Marseille but no blame could be apportioned to him for goals conceded in any of his other appearances.
Jan Paul van Hecke – 6.08
A low score in the October player ratings for Van Hecke is explained by him only starting twice for Brighton. He was magnificent in the second of those, clearly wanting to prove a point up against Dutch giants Ajax.
Solly March – 6.00
Football can be a cruel mistress and it has proven particularly cruel to March through the years. Another ACL injury has brought his season to a premature end at a time when some thought he could have forced his way into the England squad ahead of Euro 2024 in Germany this summer.
Mahmoud Daoud – 4.91
The summer signing from Borussia Dortmund is taking time to adapt to the unique demands of DeZerbiBall. Had little impact against Marseille but showed signs of improvement in the Fulham draw.
Adam Webster – 4.90
No coincidence that having struggled for form so far this season playing in a back four, he gave his best performance in ages when De Zerbi opted for a back three against Fulham. So good in fact that he topped the player ratings alongside Adam Lallana.
Tariq Lamptey – 4.7
The best Brighton player on the pitch against Marseille when deployed on his weaker left side. With sad predictability, Lamptey was then ruled out for the rest of the month injured.
Danny Welbeck – 4.40
Three decent performances before a muscle problem at City put him on the shelf for an indefinite period. You can probably blame us for that, having confidently written an article back in August as to why Welbeck did not deserve to be called injury prone anymore.
Facundo Buonanotte – 4.37
Playing opportunities have been limited for Buonanotte so far, which is just as well seeing as he has taken over as one of the boo boys’ favourites. Two cameos from the bench against Fulham and Ajax.
Adam Lallana – 4.35
Ran the show against Fulham with a classy performance playing just behind Evan Ferguson. Fingers crossed Brighton can get him fit as his experience and guile adds so much.
James Milner – 4.13
Watching the veteran trying to deal with the speed and directness of Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku was akin to Ann Widdecombe taking on Usain Bolt in a 100 metre sprint. Much, much better against less quick opponents when Ajax came to the Amex until his evening came to an early end with injury.
Bart Verbruggen – 4.05
A mixed bag on his only October start. Gifted Liverpool their first goal with a terrible attempt at playing out from the back but redeemed himself with some fine stops in the second half, preventing the Redmen from killing the game off.
The October Brighton Player Ratings have been formulated through our matchday player scores. To play your part, make sure to follow us on Twitter and leave your post game player ratings in the relevant thread.
