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  1. Brighton's best Premier League XI?published at 12:32 GMT

    Brighton fan's voice banner

    Over the past week, we have been asking you to send in the best Premier League XI your club could have put together.

    We know football existed before 1992 but as a Leeds United fan asked our experts on the club to name theirs - using the Ask Me Anything form on the Whites - we stuck with their parameters.

    Here is BBC Sport's Brighton fan writer Scott's effort.

    And you can ask us about the Seagulls using the Brighton Ask Me Anything form at the top of this page or here

    Find more from Scott McCarthy at We Are Brighton, external

    Graphic showing Scott McCarthy's Premier League XI: GK: Bart Verbruggen
RB: Joel Veltman
CB: Jan Paul van Hecke
CB: Lewis Dunk
LB: Pervis Estupinan
CM: Alexis Mac Allister
CM: Moses Caicedo
RM: Solly March
AM: Pascal Gross
LM: Kaoru Mitoma
CF: Danny Welbeck
  2. Your Brighton Premier League XIpublished at 16:41 GMT 17 November

    We have, roughly, run the numbers and here is the XI your submissions have produced.

    There was an even split between 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1 but the picks suggested we ensure Danny Welbeck and Glenn Murray both got in the side so we plumbed for the first option.

    In midfield, there is the creative genius of Alexis Mac Allister, Kaoru Mitoma and Pascal Gross alongside the steel of Moises Caicedo.

    At the back, it is a familiar-looking defence, with the versatile Joel Veltman securing a berth at right-back and Marc Cucurella just edging out Pervis Estupinan.

    The best of Brighton - and this team no doubt would be upsetting the big boys on a regular basis.

    Brighton fans' Premier League XI: 4-4-2. Verbruggen, Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Cucurella, Gross, Caicedo, Mac Allister, Mitoma, Murray, Welbeck
  3. 'Know how to use the noise and scrutiny'published at 12:56 GMT 17 November

    Nicola Pearson
    BBC Sport journalist

    Fans look toward player and manager on the touchlineImage source, Getty Images

    The statistics might say playing at home is an advantage - but what happens when it is not?

    So far this season, 53% of Premier League matches have been won by the home team - the highest ever rate in a single campaign.

    On the flip side, just 26% have been won by the away team - the lowest rate since 2010-11.

    However, this has not been the case for all teams.

    For some, being on the road has been more favourable. Tottenham are perhaps the most contrasting example having the joint-most points away from home with 13, but the second-worst in front of their own fans with just five points.

    In the second part of her chat with BBC Sport, performance psychologist Marie Cartwright explained: "With crowds when playing away from home, there is a reduced scrutiny as a whole for away teams in that those crowds expect the home team to be the ones in charge. The players feel less judged. The pressure is on the other side.

    "Another reason could come down to something in psychology I like to call simplification of the task. The team has a better collective identity when they are away.

    "The human brain still goes back to the cavemen days. We have to, as a collective, fight for something. We have to protect our name. It goes back to that hunter-gatherer-against-danger mentality.

    "When players are in front of a home crowd, there can be a bit of playing up to the individuality.

    "I really do believe that collective identity has a strong enough influence because it amplifies the purpose and the belonging - let's belong together, let's be stronger together."

    The focus might be on the players' performances being impacted by being home or away, but what about the managers?

    Wolves, West Ham and Nottingham Forest make up three of the bottom four for their home records so far this term, and all have changed their manager in recent weeks.

    "100% managers and coaches can be affected, and sometimes even more so because there is so much riding on that one person," Cartwright said.

    "The decision-making is the main thing. The crowd is chanting - 'take this player off, do this' - and it can lead to rushed decisions, particularly when the noise becomes relentless.

    "Then there is the emotional regulation and touchline behaviour. A manager is pacing up and down, mirroring the stress state, and players see that. It can lead to mimicking and players feeling that stress too."

    The impact on teams psychologically playing home or away is apparent, so how can they make the most from these different conditions?

    "Our brains are wired to think negatively - it's a protection mechanism," Cartwright said.

    "So when it comes to performing home and away, those players and managers who deal with it best are those who know how to use the noise and scrutiny and move on quickly from it - an ability to have a reset routine and regulate their emotions in these pressurised situations."

    Read more from Marie in part one of her chat around the impact of playing at home here

  4. Stadium or state of mind? Psychologist on home advantagepublished at 15:28 GMT 16 November

    Nicola Pearson
    BBC Sport journalist

    Supporters gather and hold up flares outside Villa ParkImage source, Getty Images

    "Home advantage gives you an advantage."

    It is a quote - among many - attributed to the famous former England manager Sir Bobby Robson - a simple, yet fair reflection of a historical format of football.

    For as long as teams have played in leagues, games taking place home and away has been the norm, with the idea that playing at home will be to the benefit of that team.

    But what is the impact of playing at your own ground in front of your own fans?

    In the first part of her chat with BBC Sport, performance psychologist Marie Cartwright explained: "Home impact can be viewed in two ways. Sometimes it does have a positive impact, and what happens is there is an elevated motivation.

    "What that means is the crowd energy increases adrenaline and that creates a momentum in effort and intensity in the players. It is also a familiar environment for the players, so that means it reduces the cognitive load. They don't have to think as much about anything else other than their play because they know the pitch, they know the routines, they feel settled.

    "However, there are a couple of potential negative impacts as well, with the potential intensification in pressure in the home fans, most times, expecting dominance from the home team. That can lead to mistakes from players feeling bigger to them.

    "There can then be what we call a threat state. The players might perceive consequences as high, so they feel they might be facing more criticism when they are at home."

    While those who watch football know there are more factors than just where the match is being to take into consideration, the statistics do suggest the influence is there.

    Since the Premier League started, the home win percentage has outweighed the away win percentage in all bar one season - the Covid-hit 2020-21 campaign in which fans were largely not allowed admission saw a 38% home win rate compared to 40% away win rate.

    So how a team handles this additional crowd pressure seems to be a key factor.

    "In psychology, there is something called the challenge and threat theory," Cartwright said.

    "In reality what that means is a 'challenge state' can push the player into thinking, 'I've got this, I've got the resources to cope with this'. That leads to better decision making and quicker reactions.

    "The threat state, on the other hand, players might think the consequences outweigh their ability to cope. In any match context, that can mean they have a narrow sense of focus, the focus is not quite the same, so the play becomes slower because of overthinking."

    "It can also be called 'red brain or blue brain' - with red brain being the one with fear-based dialogue and internal negative self-talk, while blue brain is the cool, calm and collected one that can handle its emotions.

    "What sits in the middle of these is distraction. How a player responds to distraction and filters out the noise, like the crowd, can impact which of these mindsets they move into and ultimately how the team performs."

    Read more from Marie in part two of her chat about why teams some teams play better away from home and how it impacts managers - that will be on this page early next week.