Brighton & Hove Albion

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Former Premier League midfielder Jobi McAnuff believes a combination of Brighton's "phenomenal work" off the field and Fabian Hurzeler's "amazing work" on it have helped to quell any doubts about how the club would fare this season.

The Seagulls have taken seven points from their opening four Premier League games, while also coming from two goals down against Manchester United to reach the Carabao Cup last 16.

"I watched them beat Aston Villa 4-0 [on the opening day of the season] and they were absolutely magnificent," McAnuff told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily. "They are just a really good team to watch at the moment.

"There were big question marks coming into this season after losing Danny Welbeck, who obviously chipped in with a big portion of their goals last season, this summer.

"We were all wondering where those goals were going to come from, but everybody is starting to step up.

"Charalampos Kostoulas is a prime example of that. He really did struggle last season with only a couple of goals, but he has been allowed time and he has already got three goals this season.

"Malick Yalcouye went on loan to Swansea City last season but he has now been brought back into the environment. Yasin Ayari is another player who benefitted from loan time away previously.

"All of Brighton's phenomenal work off the pitch is obviously being massively supported by head coach Fabian Hurzeler's amazing work on the pitch.

"There is just a real synergy throughout the whole football club."

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Brighton, Arsenal and Aston Villa are all monitoring 17-year-old Austrian midfielder Luca Weinhandl, who could be available from Sturm Graz for around £17m. (CaughtOffside, external)

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Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, spoke to Sky Sports after his side's Carabao Cup victory: "I think we started the game really well. We conceded two easy goals and then we kept and stuck to our plan. That was a positive thing. Of course, you're 2-0 down, you can go in one direction and say the game is done and not stick to the plan anymore, or you can believe. You have to believe in your teammates. You have to believe in yourself.

"The longer the game went, the better we were and in the end I think we won in a deserved way.

"I didn't think we started that bad. Of course we conceded goals and the goals changed the momentum but overall we had the right structure. We had good patterns. I think the bad thing at the beginning was we were quite nervous. We made a lot of technical mistakes and then afterwards the players grew into the game.

"In the end, we completely controlled the game and we had plenty of chances to score another goal."

Brighton midfielder Pascal Gross, spoke to Sky Sports about conceding two goals early on: "It was frustrating because it's not the first time this season, it's the third time this season where we started slow. We have to improve that because we always have to climb a mountain but today we did that.

"We played here before, last season, a similar match that we won and that gives you belief in a stadium where you've won before. The experience we try to give it to the lads. It was a really good performance and I have to say [Jason] Steeley's save at the end was unbelievable."

Hear more from Gross above or on BBC Sounds here

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The draw for the Carabao Cup fourth round has been made. Here is a list of all the ties in the order they were drawn.

• Fleetwood Town v Arsenal

• Manchester City/Norwich v Brighton

• Everton v Newcastle

• Sunderland v Brentford

• Liverpool v Chelsea

• Bradford v Peterborough

• Fulham v Crystal Palace

• Bournemouth v Aston Villa

The matches will be played in the week commencing 26 October.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Man Utd's performance

What did you make of Brighton's display?

Reaction and analysis to follow - and come back on Thursday for a selection of your replies.

There are four Carabao Cup third-round ties on Wednesday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Everton v Wolverhampton Wanderers - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Fleetwood Town v Sheffield United

• Coventry City v Aston Villa (20:00)

• Manchester United v Brighton (20:00) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-offs 19:45 BST unless stated

Follow all the action and reaction here

There's also Europa League fixtures taking place, with Sunderland in action as the league phase gets under way - follow that here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live commentaries on your smart speaker. Just say "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play Manchester United v Brighton" or "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play the Everton match", for example.

New this season: Live match updates

Fans of Premier League clubs can now get real-time scores live on their phone lock screen for every game.

Simply follow your favourite football teams on the BBC Sport app for updates throughout the 2026-27 season.

Find out more here

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New this season: Match of the Day Predictor

Simply predict the outcome of the six fixtures we've selected from across domestic and European competitions every week.

Players can join at any time, get involved with the latest round and start building a streak.

Read more about it here

You can find the predictor in the navigation bar at the top of this page, or on this link

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Former Brighton forward Warren Aspinall believes the Seagulls can beat Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

Fabian Hurzeler's side are fifth in the Premier League after two wins from their opening four games.

Despite also being in the Conference League this season, Aspinall believes his former side, who beat Coventry City 5-0 on Sunday, can still have a good cup run.

"The car is screaming and revving up as it is always on the move," he told BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited.

"If we can beat United away from home and get a home game, then the team's getting stronger and stronger in the competition.

"Out of the four competitions, this is the one they are least worried about, but we want to keep going as it is all about momentum.

"Keep that winning mentality going. They will put out a team to win a football game. You don't want to give United a leg-up.

"We have to prioritise the Conference League and get into the top eight, have a good run in the FA Cup, and in this one, as we are winning, then we can go to United and turn them over."

Listen to the latest episode of Albion Unlimited on BBC Sounds

Alastair Telfer
BBC Sport journalist

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has been speaking to the media before Wednesday's Carabao Cup third-round tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford (20:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• There are no new injury concerns, with Georginio Rutter "close" to playing, while Femi Azeez will be assessed in training.

• Stefanos Tzimas has had a "small setback" in his rehab and will be out for longer than first expected.

• Jason Steele is "the best number two in the league" and will start in goal on Wednesday.

• Hurzeler confirmed he will manage "the energy of the squad" and a decision will be made on who are the freshest players. He added: "The goal is to get through to the next round, so there has to be a balance."

• Asked about VAR's impact on the Manchester derby, he said: "VAR makes football more fair and that is proven. But there are moments, like the weekend, when it is not ideal and things like this shouldn't happen. It has happened and what is important is it does not happen again."

• On Manchester United: "We expect a strong Manchester United who want to react after their defeat."

• He said anything is possible in the Carabao Cup and that Brighton "are a club with ambitions and expectations".

• On Lewis Dunk's goal against Coventry City: "I showed it once. The celebration went viral on social media and then the players' reaction as they couldn't believe Lewis scored such a goal."

Hit play above to hear more from Hurzeler or listen on BBC Sounds here

Listen to live commentary of Man Utd v Brighton on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds on Wednesday

Got a question about Brighton? Get in touch here and we'll seek answers from our experts

On this week's instalment of Albion Unlimited, Brighton captain Lewis Dunk reflects on the win over Coventry and his stunning goal.

There are also previews for this week's big fixtures against Manchester United in the third round of the Carabao Cup and Arsenal in the Premier League.

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

Explore all Brighton content on BBC Sounds

Listen to every Brighton game live on BBC Radio Sussex, with all the build-up and full commentary with Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall, and there is a full preview of all Seagulls' matches on Fridays at 18:00 in The Weekend Warm-up

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Coventry City and Brighton.

Here are some of your comments:

Coventry fans

Frank: Obviously you look at the score and it looks like a proper embarrassing spanking, but it wasn't a 5-0 thrashing. The second goal is just awful and then we go down to ten and the game is done. Fans were great though. Put the kids out for the Aston Villa cup game, a win at Nottingham Forest on Saturday has to be what we focus on.

Stephen: Worst performance I have seen in ten years. I wasn't happy with the starting formation - five at the back is too negative. Doug King has a big decision to make if the next couple of games don't end with some points. It's not just the scoreline, it's the performance that hurts more. Apart from a good second half against Manchester City, we have been poor.

Geo: We were outplayed. Brighton were faster to each ball and seemed to have loads of space to set up their attacks. We were second best in tackles and the ball seemed to run with Brighton. Their goalkeeper pulled off two magical saves.

Barry: Coventry shouldn't get too down. There's a lot of the season left for them to bounce back.

Brighton fans

Sarah: A breath of fresh air! Looked dodgy at the start - Coventry played well and could have got three in quick succession if Bart Verbruggen hadn't been so on the ball. And what a corker from Lewis Dunk! He'll quite rightly dine out on that forever - got to be goal of the month and great he's found a way to play with our new guys. Everyone's having a go. Five goals from five players. Brilliant play all round.

Stuart: Potential banana skin for us. After a good first period I was worried when Coventry seized the initiative and Bart kept us in the game. After that we just moved up the gears - ultimately, a superb performance. Our interchange of players' positions continues to baffle teams. Just wait until we get our preferred starting XI.

Stuart: That'll do nicely - goals are exactly what we can produce given the chances we create and we stayed switched on for the majority of the game. Decent all-round performance. Bigger tests to come but a real team performance today.

Ben: Thought Coventry were a little unlucky not to go in at least even at half time. Nailed on red card absolutely finished the contest. Can't see what the player was complaining about - he even had a nibble seconds before. Clearly his head was gone. Coventry looked a little naive defending with ten men, but still had a couple of chances. Bart had a terrific day, Carl Rushworth wasn't at fault for any of our goals as far as I could see. Nice to see us add a couple late on. Thoroughly good day for the Seagulls.

Jess Anderson
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Coventry's performances this season perhaps deserve more than their situation suggests.

They pushed Manchester City close in a tight 1-0 loss last time out when they were unlucky not to leave Etihad Stadium with at least a point.

But Frank Lampard said before the match against Brighton that this could be a more difficult task than the one against Enzo Maresca's side, and so it proved as the unwanted records accumulate.

Their eight first-half chances yielded an xG (expected goals) of 1.09, their best of the season so far, but again a lack of potency in front of goal proved costly.

Brilliant saves from Bart Verbruggen denied Jack Rudoni and Frank Onyeka on the volley, while Jack Rudoni also hit the side-netting.

The hosts looked to get on the front foot in the second half too, but Malick Yalcouye's goal to double Brighton's lead, quickly followed by Taiwo Awoniyi's sending-off, was enough to sap the energy from the newly promoted side.

The result was a brutal reminder of what can happen when things begin to spiral in this league and, having showed signs of promise last week, it served as a reality check for Lampard's team and highlighted how difficult staying up will be.

Despite two late goals rubbing salt in the wound for the hosts, large sections of their supporters continued to serenade their players and manager at full-time in an attempt to galvanise their team in what will be a tough campaign.

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, speaking to Sky Sports: "Every win away is something special in the Premier League. The red card helps us. Coventry were always dangerous from set pieces. We kept a clean sheet, that is the most important so good overall performance. We didn't score in the first minutes but we kept it simple. It was much better today."

On Bart Verbruggen's performance: "Big saves and we know that we have a great goalkeeper so really good to have him."

On Lewis Dunk's goal: "We always know that he has a great technique with his right foot and we know that he has the courage so I'm happy that he gets his rewards."

On being clinical: "The defence and then the clean sheet. We used our chances in an efficient way today. We have players on the pitch who want to score. We score a lot of goals but we have to find a good balance. Scoring goals helps but a clean sheet is even better."

On high expectations for his side: "We will always be the team who are very humble and don't take things for granted. We have to be humble in these moments, of course enjoy it together. We have good depth in the squad. We will always come with our togetherness."

Did you know?

• Since his Premier League debut in August 2017, Brighton's Pascal Gross has now recorded 50 assists in the competition, the joint-fourth most by any midfielder in this period (level with Bernardo Silva on 50).

• Brighton have netted 13 goals across their opening four Premier League matches this season, their most at this stage of any of their 14 top-flight campaigns in club history.

• On what as his 303rd Premier League appearance, Lewis Dunk netted just his second goal from outside the penalty area, after also scoring one against Liverpool in November 2019. It was also the first of his 18 competition goals to come from open play.

Hear more from Hurzeler on BBC Sounds

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Coventry's performance

What did you make of Brighton's display?

Reaction and analysis to follow - and come back on Monday for a selection of your replies.

There are two games in the Premier League on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Coventry v Brighton (14:00) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Manchester United v Manchester City (16:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-offs BST

Follow all of the early action from CBS Arena here

And get all updates from Old Trafford here

How to follow the Premier League weekend across the BBC

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on your smart speaker. Just say "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play Manchester United v Manchester City" or "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play the Coventry match", for example.

New this season: Live match updates

Fans of Premier League clubs can now get real-time scores live on their phone lock screen for every game.

Simply follow your favourite football teams on the BBC Sport app for updates throughout the 2026-27 season.

Find out more here

Image source, BBC Sport

New this season: Match of the Day Predictor

Simply predict the outcome of the six fixtures we've selected from across domestic and European competitions every week.

Players can join at any time, get involved with the latest round and start building a streak.

Read more about it here

You can find the predictor in the navigation bar at the top of this page, or on this link