Are Brighton worth a top 6 finish bet? A look at the latest odds

When Fabian Hurzeler first joined Brighton back in the summer there was a lot of scepticism.

After putting pen to paper on a three-year contract, Hurzeler officially became the youngest Premier League manager ever at just 31 years old.

And with very limited top-flight managerial experience, Seagulls fans were right to have their doubts about him.

After all, when a big-name manager like Roberto De Zerbi leaves, you expect an experienced manager to come and replace him rather than an up-and-coming manager who’s still young enough to be playing himself.

Once the campaign started, though, Hürzeler quickly got off to a great start. Brighton picked up 22 points from the first 12 games and found themselves sitting comfortably in 5th place.

Maybe De Zerbi leaving wasn’t so bad after all. It was the dream start and the football being played on the pitch was living up to expectations.

However, following the festive period, Brighton’s wheels have started to fall off. The identity from the beginning of the season — where the squad seemed much braver and more attacking — has slowly started to waver.

Points dropped against Leicester, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Brentford started to ring the alarm bells during December, but Seagulls fans really started to panic a few weeks ago following a tough 0-1 loss against a rejuvenated Everton under David Moyes followed by a humiliating 7-0 thrashing by Nottingham Forest, Brighton’s biggest defeat in their Premier League history.

Following the Nottingham Forest game, the pressure started to mount on Hürzeler. However, the 31-year-old head coach immediately bounced back by knocking Chelsea out in the 4th round of the FA Cup and then beating them again less than a week later in the Premier League.

This has now led Brighton to a point where nobody knows for sure what to expect. One minute, you’re losing 7-0 against Nottingham Forest. Next, you’re playing Chelsea off the park in back-to-back games.

One thing for sure is that it’s been an interesting season so far — and there’s still enough wiggle room for Brighton to pull off a top 6 finish.

Brighton Are Currently 11/2 to Finish Inside the Top 6

The betting experts at gamblingpromocodes.com report that Brighton currently have 11/2 odds with most major sportsbooks to finish inside the top 6. These sites include bet365, Ladbrokes, and Sky Bet. If you were to bet £10 on Brighton to do this, the return would be £65 based on the current odds, making for a significant return.

Brighton’s top 6 odds are relatively high because of two main reasons: the club’s inconsistent form and the fact the likes of Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Aston are all slightly ahead of them.

It’s arguably the most competitive the top half of the table has ever been in the Premier League, made even more bizarre by Manchester City’s disastrous run of form that currently has them sitting in 4th place.

One of the major positives for Brighton is that their recent 3-0 win over Chelsea — which saw Yankuba Minteh bag a superb brace — proves the club is more than capable of pushing themselves further up the table to get themselves a place in the top 6.

It will ultimately come down to whether new boss Fabian Hurzeler can put a stop to the inconsistent results that have plagued the Seagulls since December, as well as hoping the teams around them start dropping points.

What Does a Top Six Finish Get You in the Premier League?

Finishing inside the Premier League’s top 6 gets you European football the following season. The first, second, third, and fourth placed teams all automatically qualify for the UEFA Champions League, while fifth place gets you Europa League and sixth place means the Europa

UEFA Europa Conference League. It was only two seasons ago (2022-23) that Brighton achieved a 6th-place finish in the Premier League, marketing their highest-ever top-flight position, so Fabian Hurzeler will be looking to pull off a repeat of that this season so that Brighton can once again get a taste of European football.

Why Letting Evan Ferguson Join West Ham on Loan Might Come Back to Haunt the Seagulls

When the January transfer window arrived last month, Brighton made the controversial decision to let young centre-forward Evan Ferguson join West Ham on loan for the remainder of the season.

This came as a surprise for a number of reasons, not least because Brighton are currently in the middle of an injury crisis and it means Brighton’s only out-and-out striker until the summer is Danny Welbeck.

Nobody will deny that Welbeck is still Premier League quality — and has been excellent for Brighton during his four-and-a-half-year stint with the club — but it’s quite a risk to only have a 34 year old as you’re sole striker.

This is especially true when you’re chasing an FA Cup, too, as Brighton look like they could potentially go deep into the domestic competition and finally get their hands on a long-awaited trophy.

Whether letting Ferguson go will turn out to be a mistake remains to be seen, although some Brighton fans will agree that sending the injury-prone striker on loan to West Ham might not be the worst thing in the world.

After all, it’s an opportunity for him to pick up form, get back to his best, and return fresh in the summer ahead of the next campaign.

If this is the best way to nurse Ferguson back, then it probably still would have been a good idea to bring in some backup for Welbeck, but it’s clearly something the Brighton board isn’t too stressed about.

Summary

Between now and May, all eyes will be on the top half of the Premier League table. The title race between Liverpool and Arsenal looks like it might go down to the wire, while the likes of Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Brighton will be pushing to finish inside the top six positions.

As things stand at the moment, it looks like Brighton might just have enough in the tank to pull it off, but only if they can stop their patchy run of results and start consistently picking up points.

The recent 3-0 win over Chelsea shows they’ve got the squad to do it — and new manager Fabian Hurzeler is going to have to get the best out of them.