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The highlight of an October in which five points out of a possible 12 were secured was undoubtedly Brighton and Hove Albion winning their first away game in the Premier League, a 3-0 success at West Ham United in one of the best games on the road we’ve had in years.
Glenn Murray scored twice at the London Stadium and added a third goal for the month in the 1-1 home draw with Southampton a week later to take over at the top of the Albion goal scoring charts with three for the campaign as October ended on a high note.
It had began with a 2-0 defeat away at Arsenal in a game in which the Gunners dominated but were unable to run up a big score line thanks largely to the efforts of Lewis Dunk, Shane Duffy and Maty Ryan.
That trio were at it again after the international break when Everton visited, Ryan in particular putting in the graft to secure a 1-1 draw with a number of brilliant saves, none of which were better than his double stop right at the death.
Pascal Gross now sits third in the Premier League assists list behind only Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva while it was also a good month for Gaetan Bong who was handed a surprise start against Arsenal but he has grabbed the opportunity with both hands to establish himself as first choice left back ahead of Markus Suttner, putting him in contention for a first Player of the Month crown of the season in a defence-heavy shortlist.
Gatean Bong
Given a surprise start away at Arsenal, he did well in dealing with the threat of Alexis Sanchez and then played a big part in the clean sheet at West Ham United and another solid defensive showing a week later against Southampton.
Shane Duffy
Was a one man heading and blocking machine in the game against Arsenal. Quite why West Ham decided to put over 30 crosses into the box when he was there to head everything away at the London Stadium is anybody’s guess.
Lewis Dunk
Rumours abound that he is on the verge of an England call up and it isn’t hard to see why. He again had the pundits raving with his performance against Arsenal and is one of the main reasons that the defence looks so tight at the minute.
Pascal Gross
Three more assists have taken him third in the Premier League assists chart behind only David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne. Those assists included a brilliant cross for Glenn Murray at West Ham, a fantastic delivery against Everton and a ball straight onto Murray’s head against Southampton.
Glenn Murray
After an injury hit start to the campaign, he got up and running with a brace at West Ham and then scored a trademark header in the home draw with Southampton. Has led the line impeccably in October, going some of the way to alleviate the understandable fears about where the Albion’s goals will come from.
Maty Ryan
Made a number of crucial saves to keep the score down at Arsenal but even more important was his role in the draw at home to Everton, particularly the late double save that helped the Albion cling onto a point.
