Wolves chance for Brighton to end woeful League Cup record
Who else saw the adverts plastered over social media from Brighton & Hove Albion about their League Cup third round tie with Wolves? Or was it Crawley in the second round?
Me, I saw it via a sponsored advert on Facebook. “We face Crawley Town in the Carabao Cup second round on Wednesday 18th September, 7:45pm kick off. Save £5 on tickets when you buy in advance,” screamed the text.
Below was a graphic advertising Brighton against Wolves. Third round of the League Cup. Complete with an image of Adam Webster scoring in the previous round of the competition. Against Crawley.
Ticket sales must be slow if the club are resorting to Facebook advertising to try and get people into the Amex. The lack of interest on behalf of Seagulls supporters will hardly come as a surprise, however, given Brighton’s record in the League Cup.
Only once have the Albion ever gone beyond the fourth round of the competition. And that was 45 years ago, back in the 1978-79 season.
Brighton’s form is particularly bad when the draw pairs them with a fellow Premier League outfit. Since winning promotion in 2017, the Albion have faced seven top flight opponents.
They have lost six of those games, the only exception being a stunning 3-1 win at Arsenal under Roberto De Zerbi in the 2022-23 season.
And we all know what happened next. Brighton were handed an away tie at League One Charlton Athletic in round four.
A brilliant opportunity for a rarer than hen’s teeth appearance in the final eight. Just defeat opponents who had failed to beat Bristol Rovers and Cheltenham Town in their two previous home matches.
Festive post meant thousands of Brighton fans’ tickets did not arrive in time, necessitating some queuing for two hours outside the Valley to collect duplicates.
Those Seagulls supporters who made it into the ground were rewarded by watching the Albion bow out in embarrassing fashion, losing on penalties to the Addicks. Merry Christmas, everyone.
What made elimination at the hands of Charlton particularly galling was that De Zerbi used his best XI. Other defeats in the League Cup – particularly under Glow Up Graham Potter – were man-made by naming weakened teams.
Playing the Under 12s for example when Aston Villa visited the Amex in 2019-20 was Potter showing contempt for the competition and disrespect to those Brighton supporters who went along to watch.
Villa went onto reach the League Cup final that season in a year when they barely survived immediate relegation back to the Championship. That could have been Brighton if Potter took the competition seriously.
We say it every season, but imagine the Albion going to Wembley. Winning a major piece of silverware for the first time. And qualifying for Europe (again).
It would be an historic, unforgettable occasion writing the name of whichever head coach delivered it into the record books.
The opportunity now falls to Fabian Hurzeler. The youngest permanent head coach in Premier League League Cup history talked a good game in his pre Wolves press conference, reeling off the names of Brighton players who could feature.
Joao Pedro is under consideration after being rested for the weekend draw with Ipswich Town with a minor knock. Mats Wieffer could make his return having not played since picking up an injury in the opening day win at Everton.
Evan Ferguson and Tariq Lamptey were both mentioned by Hurzeler. It seems as though the Brighton boss is planning on making changes but introducing Premier League quality players and full internationals.
Not taking the Potter approach and plucking seven of the starting 11 out of Year 9 maths, leaving Albion fans scrambling to Google who exactly is playing when the starting XI is announced.
Wolves boss Gary O’Neil has not been shy about his plans to make wholesale changes. Potentially to the extent of introducing an entirely new line up featuring untried, untested young players.
“It’s a game we want to win but a game we will probably need to make changes,” said O’Neil, whose Old Gold have picked up only one point from four games so far.
They face a tricky run of matches against Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City, making Premier League results a priority for O’Neil over any sort of dalliance with the League Cup.
O’Neil added he was “not willing to risk really important players in key areas of the pitch,” before suggesting at least one academy graduate would be named at centre back.
You would hope that a Brighton XI containing the likes of Lamptey, Wieffer, Ferguson, Ferdi Kadioglu, Simon Adingra, Julio Enciso and potentially Pedro has enough to overcome a weakened Wolves side at home. We say hope, because that Charlton experience still remains ingrained in the memory.
If the Albion do advance to round four, who knows what might happen from there? The new Champions League format creates more matches for the bigger clubs, meaning they may deprioritise the League Cup.
In beating Manchester United and drawing with Arsenal already this season, Brighton have shown they can go toe-to-toe with the best in England on their day.
The 2024-25 season could provide a unique opportunity for somebody outside of the Big Six to win the League Cup.
Why not Brighton?
