Brighton’s best eludes them against struggling teams – time to put that right

At the start of October, I looked ahead to the four games Brighton & Hove Albion faced with a degree of optimism despite what looked like a difficult set of fixtures.

We were at that point sixth, on a par with Manchester’s United and City. I thought that given some luck and a repeat of the form we saw in September, the top five was not an unrealistic goal were we to beat Norwich and steal a point from either City at home or, less likely, Liverpool away.

As ever with predictions – particularly mine which you can remind yourself of here – things didn’t pan out that way.

In comparison to the games either side of it, we did not play that well at Carrow Road, and were lucky to come away with a point thanks to Teemu Pukki’s poor finishing. Another reminder that form and relative positions in the table don’t necessarily predict results.

The 4-1 score line against City flattered the visitors, in my opinion. As overwhelmed as we were first half, in the second there were real glimpses of the fightback we produced in the same fixture in April, and but for luck and chance we might have stolen a point against a team worth more than the Beatles back catalogue or whatever ridiculous sum it is now.

It looked like the same pattern would be followed at Anfield. In a game bursting at the seams with pivotal moments, defensive errors, shots tipped onto the woodwork and decisions made by the assistant refs or VAR, it could have gone either way.

As others have said, it was a performance that ranks with the very best in Albion’s history. Yves Bissouma deserved to see his shot go in, Enock Mwepu announced himself on the world stage with a wonder goal, and Leandro Trossard again proved we don’t need a traditional striker to rack up the goals.

Tariq Lamptey is back and getting better with every minute played, Marc Cucurella is an outstanding signing, and old favourites Lewis Dunk, Shane Duffy and Solly March are all proving their worth at the highest level.

Undefeated away, and points from eight of our first 10 games is a fantastic start to the season. We have no reason for complaint and every reason to be proud of the club.

So where do things stand now, and what does November have in store for us? Brighton sit eighth in the table having seen both Arsenal and Wolves move above us in the table in gameweek 10.

Chelsea, City and Liverpool are breaking away at the top, with West Ham chasing, but only four points separates the rest of the top 10.

Most of those teams have, like us, a goal difference of around zero give or take, with Spurs a notable outlier on -7.

Before a packed December schedule there are only three games in November; at home to Newcastle and Leeds United, and away to Aston Villa.

On paper and on form, games against three of the bottom five teams ought to see us net nine points, a haul likely to see us firmly back in the top five.

If we play like we did in the second halves of both the City and Liverpool games, nine points is surely possible, but as with Norwich, our best seems to elude us sometimes with teams in the lower half.

It was the same last season, when we were in the lower half, where it often felt like the bigger the challenge the better the performance.

We need repeats of this season’s Watford game with some clear margins of victory to boost that goal difference rather than a one goal advantage.

For what it’s worth, much as I’d be delighted with nine points, I don’t think we will win all three. Others will join Danny Welbeck, Dan Burn and Steve Alzate on the injury list.

Those yellow cards are building towards suspensions for a couple of players, there are always errors and VAR decisions likely to go against us, plus the fact that there are no easy games in the Premier League. Four or six points is perhaps more realistic.

Less than four will see us drop out of the top 10 in all likelihood, but there are a whopping seven games in December to recover ground ahead of the halfway point in the season.

Let’s hope for three wins, enjoy the performances of some truly brilliant players and celebrate the fact that not only are we not battling relegation, but challenging for the top ten and even Europe for the first time.

We’ve every reason to hope that continues. UTA.