Brighton Player Ratings November 2024: Big Bart banks top spot

Two wins, one draw and one defeat left Brighton sitting pretty in fourth spot in the Premier League table at the end of November – resulting in some pretty impressive player ratings.

Especially if your name happens to be Bart Verbruggen. The Albion number one racked up the highest monthly score of the season so far thanks to a series of points-earning stops. Without Verbruggen, it is safe to say the standing would not be looking quite so rosy.

Brighton kicked off November by giving league leaders Liverpool a real fright at Anfield before succumbing to a 2-1 defeat.

Next came one of the greatest nights the Amex Stadium has seen. The Albion rallied to come from behind and beat four-in-a-row champions Manchester City 2-1 thanks to late goals from Joao Pedro and Matt O’Riley.

A rare victory at Plucky Little Bournemouth followed after the international break. The 2-1 success delivered by Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma was only the third time in 30 years Brighton had beaten the Cherries away in a league game.

Mitoma was on target again in the final game of November against Southampton. It proved to be the only disappointment of the month as the Albion drew 1-1 with a Saints side who had lost their previous nine games on the road.

Still, November was good enough overall for Fabian Hurzeler to be nominated for Manager of the Month. And here are the WAB Brighton October 2024 Player Ratings for the men who helped him onto the shortlist.

1) Bart Vebruggen – 7.80

Did you know that up to the end of November, the Albion were one of the best teams for outperforming their expected goals against? Which basically means Brighton are conceding far less than they should do based on the quality of chances had by the opposition. That is mainly down to Verbruggen pulling off save after save. No wonder Bayern Munich are interested.

2) Joao Pedro – 7.65

Goal and assist off the bench against City. Another goal and another assist when back in the starting XI for the first time in two months against Bournemouth. A fit and firing Pedro makes such a difference to the Albion.

3) Kaoru Mitoma – 7.53

Clinical finish to pop the Cherries and his header against Southampton meant Mitoma scored in back-to-back matches for the first time since February 2023. Kyle Walker and Trent Alexnader-Arnold are two world class full backs and yet after facing him, both looked dazed and confused like a grandmother who has accidentally taken LSD

4) Jan Paul van Hecke – 7.35

An excellent month defensively was magnified by the way he took over leadership of the defence with Lewis Dunk waylaid by an injured calf. We have said it before and we will undoubtedly say it again, but Van Hecke is a future Brighton captain. Also managed to get under the skin of Pep Guardiola, much to the delight of everybody.

5) Igor Julio – 7.30

Igor, Igor, Igor! Voted WAB Brighton November 2024 Player of the Month and ensured Dunk had to settle for a place on the bench for the first time in the Albion captain’s 250 game Premier League career.

6) Carlos Baleba – 7.27

Baleba rides high in the Brighton November Player Ratings despite only being involved in two matches. Outstanding after coming on to help turn around the City game and could consider himself very unlucky to be shown a second yellow card at Bournemouth.

7) Pervis Estupinan – 6.93

Any hopes Hurzeler had of resting Estupinan went out the window with injuries to other left back options Ferdi Kadioglu and Jack Hinshelwood. That is not necessarily a bad thing; having Estupinan behind always brings out the best in Mitoma. It is no surprise to see the Japanese Bullet Train second in the Brighton November Player Ratings once reunited with Estupinan.

8) Matt O’Riley – 6.92

Blimey O’Riley. There are good ways to make your Premier League debut. And then there is returning from ankle surgery to score the winner against the reigning champions within 20 minutes of coming off the bench. Talk about an instant impact.

9) Jack Hinshelwood – 6.84

Eyebrows were raised when Hurzeler named a relatively inexperienced midfield pairing of Hinshelwood and Ayari to face Liverpool. The duo did a fine job at Anfield, with Hinshelwood also impressing against City until injury forced him off.

10) Danny Welbeck – 6.83

Welbz is Dat Guy. No goals in November but his hold up play, work rate and stretching of defences means he remains indispensable to the way Hurzeler plays.

11) Georginio Rutter – 6.65

Not as good as he was through October but part of that may have been Hurzeler using him out wide at times to accommodate the return of Pedro. How you fit both in the same starting XI without blunting their effectiveness is a question which will need answering at some point.

12) Brajan Gruda – 6.40

The £25 million summer signing from Mainz is still awaiting his first Premier League start. Maybe Brighton did sign too many wingers in the summer?

13) Yasin Ayari – 6.28

His best game of the season so far came in the defeat against Liverpool. Bit surprised to see him so far down the Brighton November Player Ratings to be honest, even if it was him being replaced by Baleba which sparked the City turnaround.

14) Ferdi Kadioglu – 6.29

Scored his first Albion goal and in spectacular style, driving a powerful shot across Alisson to open the scoring at Anfield. Has not been seen since due to injury.

15) Joel Veltman – 6.22

Like Ayari, Veltman should not be this far down the ratings. One of those players whose importance you don’t necessarily fully appreciate until they are not there. Case in point: Brighton have not won a game since Veltman was injured at Bournemouth…

16) Mats Wieffer – 5.77

A solid set of cameos from the bench were exactly what the doctor ordered after THAT moment against Wolves in the final game of October.

17) Simon Adingra – 5.70

Not going to lie, I cannot remember him doing much off the top of my head other than missing a late chance against Southampton.

18) Lewis Dunk – 5.29

Came off the bench against Southampton. Struggling to recall a previous occasion where a Brighton manager has brought on a centre back in an attempt to find a winning goal.

19) Jakub Moder – 5.14

A rare Premier League outing at Liverpool to remind everyone he exists.

20) Evan Ferguson – 4.79

Scored for the Republic of Ireland against Finland in the international break. Offered little for Brighton though. The case for letting him leave on loan in January grows stronger by the week.

The October 2024 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.