3 Brighton players who should make Team of the Year
Although the Premier League Team of the Year is often dominated by stars from the major clubs in the league, three standout Brighton players have made a strong case to be included in the XI this season.
Here is a look at who we think have the potential to be a part of that team on the back of their performances in the 2019/20 campaign for the Seagulls.
Lewis Dunk
Brighton fans don’t need reminding of how important skipper Lewis Dunk is to the team. Not just for his towering performances in the middle of the defence, but also his leadership on the field.
The 28-year-old’s displays this season suggest he is at the peak stages of his career now. The Englishman’s statistics in the 2019-20 campaign are up there with any other defender in the league so he should not be overlooked for the Team of the Year.
Not only has Dunk contributed to Brighton’s six clean sheets this season, he also has a 63% tackle success rate, 8% higher than Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
The Brighton defender has also been useful as an attacking threat. He has scored two goals and provided the most completed passes in the team with 1,881 in the 2019/20 campaign.
Neal Maupay
Goals have not been easy to come by for Brighton this season, which makes Neal Maupay’s contribution of eight goals even more important.
The Frenchman signed for Brighton from Brentford last summer and he has had an excellent opening campaign in the top flight. Seagulls fans have every reason to be very excited about what he could go on to achieve at the club.
Brighton are now odds-on in the football betting to stay up. Without Maupay, the Seagulls would have been fighting very hard to maintain their Premier League status at the end of the season.
Maupay is on course for being only the eighth Brighton player to score double digits in the top league of English football. This would be an impressive opening return on his debut season on the south coast.
Aaron Mooy
Arguably, the best bit of business Brighton manager Graham Potter has done this season is the acquisition of Aaron Mooy from Huddersfield.
The Australian initially joined on loan and after impressing in the opening half of the campaign from midfield, the deal was made permanent in January.
Mooy is very composed on the ball, something Potter was looking for when he took over the reins at the club. The 28-year-old very rarely mislays a pass and this has helped the Seagulls improve their possession and passing count.
Although the permanent deal was undisclosed, reports suggest the fee was around £5 million, which represents fantastic value in today’s market.
Although he faces a lot of competition from some of the powerhouse teams in the league, on a pound-for-pound basis, the Brighton midfielder deserves to be part of the conversation in the award-winning team.
If one of the above players does make it into the Premier League Team of the Year, it will be the first time in the Premier League era that a Seagulls representative is included.
