Brighton & Hove Albion

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We asked for your views on what is the one thing about Brighton that no-one is talking about.

Here are some of your comments:

Terry: Lewis Dunk. He is Mr Brighton and Hove Albion but it's time to step back. His speed has gone and it's time to let the youngsters have a go if Fabian Hurzeler wants consistency and a quicker attack-minded team.

Kevin: I thought last season that Lewis Dunk looked a bit past it and his performances this season have confirmed it. In the six matches he was injured, Albion won five and drew one, rising to sixth in the Premier League and reaching the FA Cup quarter-final. In his next six games after coming back from injury, Albion lost five and were knocked out of the FA Cup. Looks like time has caught up with him sadly.

Some fans were also critical about the squad itself, with prominent players being linked with an exit and the deficiencies that exist within the team.

Matt: A defender who can kick with both feet. Bored of seeing Pervis Estupinan or Igor Julio just playing with their left foot. And sometimes looking like Daniel Day Lewis!

Dylan: Joao Pedro possibly leaving. He is our main striker and Danny Welbeck is getting old so who will we have to replace him?

Alan: Has all the money spent, particularly on midfielders, seen any improvement? Was going to be hard to replace Pascal Gross, but we let Billy Gilmour go for comparative pennies. Our best centre midfielders have been Yasin Ayari and Carlos Baleba, who were here already. So has all that spending really been wise?

Richard: If Kaoru Mitoma goes in the summer who is going to get us off our seats? No-one in the current squad had the guile and skill to get past players like the Japanese international.

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Rayan Ait-Nouri has been directly involved in more goals than any other defender in the Premier League this season (11 – four goals, seven assists). He is the only Wolves defender to have 10 or more goal contributions in a single campaign in the competition.

Wolves (62 goals conceded from 439 shots faced) have let in a higher share of their shots faced than any other side in the Premier League this season (14%) except for Saturday's opponents Brighton, who have also conceded 14% (56 goals from 395 shots).

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Bart Verbruggen says Fabian Hurzeler has instilled confidence in him since arriving at the club last summer.

After sharing goalkeeping duties with Jason Steele under Roberto de Zerbi last season, Verbruggen has established himself as the clear number one at Brighton in 2024-25.

He told BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited that Hurzeler has given him the freedom to perform.

"First of all, he gives me a lot of trust and that's what gives players confidence," Verbruggen said. "I am really grateful for the trust he puts into me and just try to repay him every week - and my team-mates as well.

"It's always nice to hear but I try to stay away from that because I know my potential and ability but I also know that I am not where I can be. I am just trying to put my head down and work as hard as I can.

"We have a young team and everybody is learning, including myself. There's been a lot of lessons from the season so far but the season is not over and we have to use those lessons to try and win the last three games.

"We have a good squad - a lot of individual qualities as well. We have to get them in good situations as much as we can to let them do their magic."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds.

Brighton are still in with a chance of a European spot this season but have won just one of their past five league games.

Give us a peek behind the curtain as Fabian Hurzeler's first season in charge nears its end.

Tell us the one thing that no-one is talking about at Brighton but really should be.

Let us know here

The Albion Unlimited team at BBC Radio Sussex are back with a fresh episode.

The team catch up with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen as he discusses Brighton's remaining fixtures, as well as the draw with Newcastle.

They also look ahead to Saturday's trip to Wolves and the Molineux side's transformation under Vitor Pereira.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Scott McCarthy
Fan writer

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Attendance at Amex Stadium is a hot topic. There were at least 2,000 season ticket seats that went unsold on exchange for the Newcastle game. Looking around the stadium, there were many thousands more empty seats.

Those who do show up are leaving early in increasing numbers. The ground is now often half empty by the time the final whistle blows. Even Fabian Hurzeler spoke about it following the 3-2 win over West Ham. On that occasion, those who left early missed Albion goals in the 89th and 93rd minutes.

Brighton are still in the race for European football next season - so why are so many season ticket-holders staying away or leaving early?

The answer lies in transport. The Amex relies on public transport. For Saturday games, the train service tends to be good. But on a Sunday or midweek, it turns into carnage.

This is obviously an issue when TV demands butcher the fixture list. Many people are evidently deciding the chaos is not worth the bother.

I live 12 miles from Amex Stadium. I have made it home from watching England at Wembley this season - 88 miles away - faster than getting back from some Albion games.

Roadworks currently taking place on the A27 just before Falmer are admittedly not helping. Some fans reported getting on a Park & Ride bus in Portslade at 1pm and only making it into their seat at 2.37pm on Sunday. A 7.7 mile journey taking 97 minutes and meaning they missed the opening half hour of the game.

Yet even when the A27 is fully open again, the problems with public transport will remain. It feels at times like the club are unaware of quite how bad it can be.

Maybe if Hurzeler and the Albion decision-makers who seem perplexed by the early leavers and no-shows tried the time-consuming and arduous journey themselves after a home game, they would better understand why people find it off-putting enough to dictate whether they attend games or not.

Find more from Scott McCarthy at We Are Brighton, external

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Brighton forward Yankuba Minteh spoke to BBC Radio Sussex after scoring against his former club Newcastle United: "Everybody wants to prove [wrong] the team that sells them, so I try to do that every time I play against them and I'm happy about it.

"If we grab the eighth place, that would be really good because that is what we're playing for."

Defender Jan Paul van Hecke, who returned to action after getting concussion, added: "It was a tough period, the first few days were bad getting headaches and being really tired. I was a bit worried but I could see a big difference after six or seven days.

"We can do a lot of things better, hopefully we can improve over the next few days and get Europe over the line."

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We asked for your views on Brighton's Premier League match against Newcastle.

Here are some of your comments:

Brighton fans

Fran: A draw was a fair result as I thought we lacked creativity in and around their box. Our build up play is so slow, giving the opposition so much time to get back into position. We hold the ball at the back waiting for the strikers to come to us but they don't and then we don't seem to know what to do so just pump it forward and give it away. Very frustrating and boring to watch. Let's just get the season finished!

Ben: Referee wanted to give them absolutely everything from minute one. A one in three rate for calling a penalty is abysmal for a referee of that calibre. Every time we tackled them and got the ball, foul. The opposite but no ball, play on no issue. Absolutely awful overall.

Stuart: Disappointed not to win the game. We were so close, but to be fair Newcastle have some amazing assets in their team, none more so than Craig Pawson, he played a blinder.

Newcastle fans

Chris: That was an incredibly frustrating game to watch. We have gone from scoring for fun to not being able to get our key striker into half chance positions, all in the space of a few games.

Philip: Disappointing in the first half, but really improved in the second. Would have won with more composure in the box. Dan Burn was man of the match for me. Tonali had probably his poorest game for us, but he's only human!

Roy: Poor performance overall, but a point is probably a fair result. Awful dive from Willock and he deserved his yellow. Wieffer very lucky to still be on the pitch for Brighton after a clear second yellow card was not given for some strange reason. I'll take a draw away against a very good Brighton side

Mark Chapman presents highlights and analysis from Sunday's four Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.

Listen back to the weekend's full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Brentford 4-3 Manchester United

• Brighton 1-1 Newcastle United

• Chelsea 3-1 Liverpool

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Fabian Hurzeler spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Brighton's draw against Newcastle: "There were too many mistakes and then we conceded a very cheap penalty which was a late on in the game. Last time we had a great comeback against West Ham last time but this week was also possible but football was not on our side so we have to make the best of it."

On whether the football is on an upward trajectory: "Absolutely. A good team performance, although we made some easy mistakes. We were not able to control the game like we wanted to but overall it was a good team performance, we stuck together and supported each other and then we have a chance to win games."

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Only Southampton (11) have conceded more goals in the 89th minute or later in the Premier League this season than Brighton and Hove Albion, with Alexander Isak's penalty the eighth the Seagulls have conceded.

Bobbie Jackson
BBC Sport Journalist

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What a difference a week makes.

Brighton scored two late goals to snatch a win against West Ham last weekend but were given a taste of their own medicine by Newcastle.

That triumph over the Hammers halted a five-game winless streak and should have been the catalyst to allow Brighton to kick on in their hunt for European football.

However, the Seagulls lacked rhythm and can count themselves lucky to have picked up a point against Newcastle.

Yankuba Minteh's 28th-minute strike was against the run of play and Brighton didn't look like adding a second.

It took Brighton another 52 minutes to muster a shot.

They were rightly given a reprieve when two penalties awarded to Newcastle were overturned by the video assistant referee, however, Yasin Ayari had no argument when a spot-kick was awarded against him for handball.

Brighton, who had conceded at least two goals in each of their past six league outings, could not hang on with Alexander Isak rolling in the penalty with just one minute left of the 90.

Victory would have moved the Seagulls up to eighth and in a strong position for a European berth, but the draw keeps them 10th and hoping others slip up in the final three games.

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Brighton's performance

What did you make of Newcastle's display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies.

Intro referencing day, competition and number of matches.

• Brentford v Manchester United

• Brighton v Newcastle - BBC Radio 5 Live

• West Ham v Tottenham

• Chelsea v Liverpool (16:30) - BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 14:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

Brighton got back to winning ways last weekend thanks to Carlos Baleba's brilliant late strike against West Ham.

The Seagulls beat Newcastle at St James' Park earlier in the season too, but that was before Eddie Howe's side hit their stride, and it is a big ask for Brighton to repeat that result.

Newcastle were just relentless in their win over Ipswich and another three points here would be massive in their bid for a top-five finish - I don't think they will get them, but we will see a few goals.

Sutton's prediction: 2-2

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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Former Brighton striker Warren Aspinall spoke to the Albion Unlimited podcast before Sunday's match against Newcastle: "I think if we can score first, we will win the game convincingly. They [Newcastle] crumble - we saw that against Aston Villa.

"They haven't got the pace at the back to chase games. Once [Kieran] Trippier and [Tino] Livramento get forward, [Fabian] Schar goes wandering and we can really exploit them.

"Brighton will have a spring in their step and the confidence is there after the comeback [against West Ham]. There is togetherness again and there are no individuals playing for themselves.

"I'm going for a 3-1 convincing win."

Listen to the full episode

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Brighton welcomed former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure to the training ground this week, with Fabian Hurzeler pleased by what he and his team learned from the Premier League title winner.

"In general we are a very open club and we always want to learn from other departments and other personalities," said the Brighton boss. "He's an unbelievable personality and he was a great player, so therefore we have two aspects when he was here.

"The first one is he has a good relationship to the African players and I think it's very important we have someone there who can talk with the players, who has an understanding of where they come from, how is the culture there and what are their needs. I think that's something where I also can learn from.

"And on the other side he was a great player so he can give me and the players some small advice on what it needs to be at the highest level.

"We had a really interesting exchange. Although I didn't have that much time, I took away a lot of things and for sure we'll stay in touch and let's see how this relationship continues."

Toure made 229 Premier League appearances in his eight seasons at Manchester City and won three league titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups.

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Brighton midfield duo Carlos Baleba and Yasin Ayari are both up for the Premier League's goal of the month award for April.

Both strikes came in Albion's 3-2 win against West Ham last Saturday, Ayari picking out the top corner in the first half before Baleba's beautiful curler won Brighton the points in the dying moments.

Fans have until Monday, 5 May to cast their vote on the Premier League's official website.

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Newcastle (kick-off 14:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke trained with the team on Wednesday and is "ready to start" after recovering from a head injury.

• Joel Veltman, Tariq Lamptey, Karou Mitoma and Igor Julio are also in contention to play, with Adam Webster another who returned to training this week: "We have a lot more options so it is all looking a lot more positive."

• He said Brighton "showed character and personality" in the victory over West Ham and the group "are full of positivity and energy" for the remaining games.

• He said it is "important to live the moment" and that is why he enjoyed celebrating with the fans after that home win to the Hammers.

• On having Yaya Toure around the training ground this week: "We are a very open club and we want to learn from other personalities. It is important you have someone who can talk to the players who understands where they have come from and their needs. I can also learn something [from that]."

• On Lewis Dunk's influence in the team: "We can't praise him enough. He has had a difficult season and not really got got into rhythm but he is always there. He never hides and there for me shows his big character."

• He hopes Dunk's return will boost everyone's confidence: "I try to be a role model regarding positivity and giving joy to the players even when we have bad results because you have to love the challenges you face."

• On opponents Newcastle: "We know it is another big, big challenge for us but we are looking forward to it and after training this week, we are ready for it."

• He agreed it is a challenge "to stop their dynamic play" and it will require "physicality" to compete against them."

Listen to live commentary of Brighton vs Newcastle on BBC Radio 5 Live from 14:00 BST on Sunday

Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news