WAB Brighton Power Rankings March 2023
An unbeaten March saw Brighton strengthen their hopes of a top six finish and move into the semi finals of the FA Cup, leaving Albion fans very excited about what might lie in store over the final two months of the campaign.
Roberto De Zerbi found himself nominated for Premier League Manager of the Month whilst Alexis Mac Allister was up for Player of the Month.
Comparing Mac Allister’s inclusion on that shortlist with where he stands in the WAB Power Rankings tells you how good Brighton were in March, with the Argentine midfielder rated only the sixth best Albion performer.
It is therefore safe to make a case that Moises Caicedo, Solly March, Evan Ferguson, Kaoru Mitoma and Lewis Dunk all had strong claims to be nominated for Premier League Player of the Month. Which is phenomenal, really.
Through hammering West Ham United, claiming a good point at The Leeds United, finally defeating rivals Crystal Palace for the first time in four years and avoiding a potential banana skin against Grimsby Town, here are how all 20 players who played for Brighton in March ranked.
1) Moises Caicedo – 82.11
Since the fiasco of his failed attempts to force through a January move to Arsenal, Caicedo has topped the WAB Power Rankings for both February and March. Deserves a lot of credit for not allowing a situation which could have derailed his season to have any impact; something which should add several million pounds more to his value this summer.
2) Solly March – 80.00
A popular winner of WAB March Player of the Month with nearly 60 percent of the vote. Scored against Leeds and Grimsby but the undoubted highlight of his month was the winning goal against Palace, ending a seven-game wait for the Albion to beat the Eagles.
3) Evan Ferguson – 78.42
The cat is well and truly out the bag now. Two brilliant goals capped off a magnificent display in the FA Cup quarter final with Grimsby. Amongst those heaping praise on him in March were Gary Lineker, Robbie Keane and Kylian Mbappe.
4) Kaoru Mitoma – 78.16
Three assists and two goals came despite Premier League opponents now double marking him – or in the case of League Two Grimsby, triple marking him. The sliding finish at the back post in the second half of the West Ham game was particularly impressive.
5) Lewis Dunk – 79.21
Most centre backs would have found their form disrupted by having three different partners across four matches. Not so Dunk, who helped Brighton to three clean sheets despite the frequency with which the defender alongside him changed.
6) Alexis Mac Allister – 76.84
Converted the penalty which got the party started against West Ham. His powerful bullet header opened the scoring at Leeds whilst his clever pass to tee up Ferguson for the second Brighton goal in the Grimsby match went under the radar somewhat because of the quality of Ferguson’s turn and finish.
7) Pascal Gross – 76.05
Claimed assists against West Ham and Grimsby. His best piece of work in March was the assist for the assist at Leeds. A Double Gross Turn bamboozled the Peacocks defence before he crossed deep to Mitoma, who returned the ball into the box for Mac Allister to head home.
8) Pervis Estupinan – 73.95
Not as eye catching as last month, especially against Grimsby when he was hauled at half time by a disappointed De Zerbi. Still managed to give a pretty swashbuckling display at Leeds, mind.
9) Adam Webster – 68.42
There was good and bad for Webster. Made some very poor mistakes at Leeds, including one which he then got injured in the process of doing really well to retrieve. Delivered a lovely cross for March’s diving header in the Grimsby game.
10) Jason Steele – 60.00
De Zerbi made a big call at the start of the month by replacing Robert Sanchez with Steele. Two clean sheets from three Premier League games justified the faith. The Palace shutout was well-earned after some hugely important interventions.
11) Jeremy Sarmiento – 57.89
Three lively cameos from the bench pushed his case for further involvement going into the final two months of the season when rotation is likely to be needed as fixture congestion bites. The broken metatarsal he picked up on international duty with Ecuador could therefore not have come at a worse time.
12) Joel Veltman – 51.48
Took advantage of an early injury to Tariq Lamptey against West Ham to come on and score a rare goal. At fault for one of the goals at Leeds but bounced back in spectacular style by pocketing Wilfried Zaha in a way no other Albion defender has really managed when facing the Palace talisman.
13) Julio Enciso – 46.84
It was a bit of a surprise not to see him afforded minutes in the FA Cup. Had to settle for two run outs from the bench in which he caused West Ham and Palace a fair few problems.
14) Levi Colwill – 45.79
Palace is a tough fixture for an experienced professional to be thrown into in their first game back after an injury layoff, let alone a bloke who has just turned 20. Nothing seems to faze Colwill though and he excelled in both the Eagles game and when introduced at left back against Grimsby.
15) Facundo Buonanotte – 35.53
His first Premier League assist arrived in the hammering of West Ham. Not seen since.
16) Deniz Undav – 14.47
Showed quick reactions and a predatory instinct to convert the rebound which put Brighton into the lead over Grimsby. Should have added a second but somehow managed to hook over the bar from no more than six yards out.
17) Robert Sanchez – 13.68
Needed a strong showing against Grimsby after being usurped by Steele in the Premier League. Made some decent stops, although he was perhaps a tad lucky when picking a ball up right on the edge of the box which on another day might have been seen as a deliberate handball.
18) Yasin Ayari – 13.95
Any player who attempts an audacious overhead kick within 10 minutes of their debut is fine by us.
19) Jan Paul van Hecke – 13.68
Given minutes late in the day against Grimsby but his Albion career appears to be coming to a close with opportunities limited and having spoken to Dutch media saying he expects a busy summer.
20) Tariq Lamptey – 12.89
Poor bloke cannot catch a break. Just when it looked like he was about to get a run of games at right back via Gross moving into midfield to cover for the injured Adam Lallana, he pulls up injured inside 10 minutes against West Ham.
The WAB Power Rankings are 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.
