Brighton 0-1 Wolves: Lowest ratings of the season for a sorry showing
You probably do not need our Brighton 0-1 Wolves player ratings to tell you this, but the Albion’s 11th Premier League match without a victory was their worst performance of the season.
Tariq Lamptey was the only player to score above a six but even his rating of 6.27 was disappointing by his normal high standards.
At the other end of the scale, Aaron Connolly put a 3.55 on the board which is the lowest score of any player to have started a game so far in the 2021-22 season.
Brighton might point to the fact that Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster and Danny Welbeck were injured. Shane Duffy was suspended. And Neal Maupay and Pascal Gross were presumably two of the individuals struck down by Covid-19.
But on paper, Graham Potter still named a starting XI good enough to put up a fight against a Wolves side winless in four and who had not scored a goal in over seven hours of football.
Potter is working with the strongest squad the Albion have ever had and there can be no doubt that they underperformed against the Old Gold. Here is what you made of it all with the Brighton 0-1 Wolves player ratings.
Robert Sanchez – 5.91
Had Big Bob not been in such inspired form then Wolves could have racked up four or five and Potter might well have found himself answering questions about booing fans again. Produced big saves in the opening 15 minutes of the second half from Francisco Trincao, Romain Saiss, Joao Moutinho and Daniel Podence as the visitors threated to run riot. A deserved second spot in the Brighton 0-1 Wolves player ratings.
TARIQ LAMPTEY – 6.27
Brighton’s tactic seemed to be “Give it to the right back and hope for the best.” Lamptey offered the Wolves defence a testing time, earning a number of fouls. If the Albion could beat the first man with a free kick or corner, then they might have even led to something.
Joel Veltman – 5.73
Brighton needed the composed Dutchman to be at his best given the absence of Dunk, Webster and Duffy. He did not put a foot wrong but he did not do an awful lot of note either. Appeared to pull up injured towards the end which will have been the last thing that Potter would have wanted to see.
Dan Burn – 5.09
Burn can add “Captained Brighton in a Premier League game” alongside “Princess Diana look-a-like” on his list of accolades. Although he was not directly up against Adama Traore on this occasion, he maintained his fine record of turning to absolute jelly whenever facing the Spanish winger. Don’t think he won a header all night and almost gifted Wolves a goal with a suicidal back pass.
Marc Cucurella – 5.73
His quietest game as a Brighton player since joining for £15 million from Getafe in the summer. Offered none of the attacking threat that he usually does thanks to Wolves boss Bruno Lage identifying the threat and having his players aggressively press Cucurella to pin him back.
Yves Bissouma – 5.36
A couple of flashes of his ability but this was largely a frustrating evening. Picked up a fifth booking of the season for absolutely clattering a Wolves player which means he misses the Albion’s next game. Brighton would prefer that to be the hopeless looking task at Manchester United rather than a winnable Boxing Day fixture against Brentford.
Jakub Moder – 4.64
His evening was summed up by his dead ball taking. When the third set piece failed to beat the first man, you thought maybe Potter would change his takers. Then the fourth set piece hit the first man. And the fifth. And the sixth. And the seventh. And the eighth…
Leandro Trossard – 5.18
Struggled to get into the game, not helped by the fact that every time he looked to make something happen, Connolly as the striker he was meant to be feeding was nowhere to be seen. Moved further forward as a false nine when Connolly was withdrawn but not even that could spark him into life.
Enock Mwepu – 5.09
Having scored good goals against Leicester City and Liverpool, Mwepu is the latest player who Potter has managed to coach the finishing ability out of. Glenn Hoddle described his scoop over an empty goal from six yards out as being reminiscent of a player with a wooden leg, which might just be the greatest piece of punditry ever.
Solly March – 5.18
Flashed some decent crosses into the box. No Maupay or Welbeck though meant there was nobody to get on the end of them. His corner and free kick taking was nearly as bad as Moder.
Aaron Connolly – 3.55
Sammy the Seagull could have done a better job. And nobody has seen hide nor feather of him since 2020.
Alexis Mac Allister – 5.09
An injury ravaged, Covid-19 hit squad and Mac Allister sill cannot get a start. Struggled to get into the game when introduced, although that was hardly a surprise
Adam Lallana – 5.00
Several nice touches, including one pivot which was halted by a well-timed Wolves tackle. Appealed for a penalty but that was more out of hope than expectation.
Taylor Richards – 4.91
Looked less lethargic than his teammates when introduced for the final five minutes, plus what felt like two hours of injury time.
The WAB Player Ratings are formulated using marks out of 10 given by Brighton fans via Twitter. To have your scores included, follow We Are Brighton on Twitter and look out for the player rating thread after each game.
