Brighton’s challenge lies ahead but confidence should be high
We are roughly one week into the month of April and although the 1st may carry a few jokes, we are truly at the business end of the 2021-22 Premier League campaign and although it’s been a season of a few up and downs under manager Graham Potter, with only eight games remaining in the competition, Brighton and Hove Albion again look to have pretty comfortably secured their survival in the top flight for another consecutive year.
Under Potter, the Seagulls have turned into even more of a difficult side to beat – notching up a whopping 13 draws and at this stage of the season, only having suffered defeat ten times (the same as European battling Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United) and even with only two calendar months left to play, for those who like a flutter the likes of Betway would undoubtedly still give decent odds on the games that remain.
The difficulty for Potter’s side has been turning those draws into victories, having only won seven of their games so far – only truly relegation threatened Watford, Burnley and Norwich City have had less success.
With Brighton sitting 12 points off the relegation zone and having a game in hand on a couple of those sides placed below them, confidence in the camp will no doubt be high of maintaining their place in the division for another season, even if their run in looks far more difficult on paper with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Manchester United still to be faced.
Team spirit within the group certainly looks to be high despite the recent run of consecutive straight defeats, if you read into the behaviour of Shane Duffy, Pascal Gross, Lewis Dunk and Adam Lallana who recently undertook the Betway Challenge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOfPPRRpSf4
But of course, the biggest challenge now lies ahead and having ended that run of six straight defeats with last weekends scoreless draw with Dean Smith’s bottom placed side Norwich City, that would’ve served as a boost of its own, particularly in keeping the clean sheet, so they’ll be looking to make up for lost points between now and the curtain closer in May as Potter ends 2021/22 at the Amex Stadium against David Moyes high flying Hammers.
And as we know, had Neal Maupay buried his glorious chance to turn the draw into all three points from the penalty spot following the award for handball, things would look even brighter for Brighton right now.
With 63% possession and a massive 31 chances overall, whilst the performance against Norwich will carry frustrations in terms of not testing the goalkeeper more and capitalising on that control, Potter will be turning it into a positive on the training pitch.
“It wasn’t to be for Neal which can happen, but I thought the reaction of the supporters towards him was fantastic so a huge thank-you to them. It wasn’t his day today but I’m sure it will be his day another day.”
Ultimately, if Brighton do secure their fate and invest again in order to have a greater punch up front, 2022/23 could be an entirely different type of campaign for the club.
