Brighton & Hove Albion have not had the easiest or the best start to their first ever Premier League campaign. They have faced two former Premier League champions Manchester City and Leicester City and have lost both games 2-0. There were positives to take from Saturday’s result against Leicester however, the first is that Brighton had more of the possession than their opponents with just shy of 55% of the ball.
Another positive is that Brighton did find the back of the net through Glenn Murray but unfortunately it was ruled out for offside. The other positive is that with just a slight tweak of formation and putting in a couple of players could mean Brighton fortunes may change.
The tactical tweak would be moving from the 4-4-1-1 formation that Chris Hughton has adopted over this pre-season and so far in The Seagulls’ Premier League campaign to last year’s promotion winning formation, 4-4-2.
4-4-2:
The 4-4-2 formation was highly successful in Brighton’s promotion winning campaign last season. The 4-4-2 formation would line-up as follows. In goal would be Matt Ryan, as although he has come under scrutiny for his performances, he definitely has the ability to be a great goalkeeper in the Premier League.
The back four for me would be Bruno, Lewis Dunk, Shane Duffy and Gaetan Bong. The reason I would not put Markus Suttner at left-back is because of the fact from what I saw of him against Leicester he made a number of mistakes against them, including allowing Riyad Mahrez to run at him and cut inside for Leicester’s opening goal.
In midfield would be Anthony Knockaert on the right wing, Dale Stephens and Steve Sidwell in the centre of the park and Solly March on the left wing. The reason I chose to play Steve Sidwell in midfielder rather than Davy Propper who has started both games besides Stephens is that of the fact that Propper seems to struggle defensively at tackling and tracking back and making interceptions.
I chose to put Sidwell in as he has a wealth of Premier League experience and is a no nonsense midfielder who will get stuck in with the tackling and will not give the opposition a chance to find space due to his desire to win the ball back, which is exactly what Brighton need in the centre of the park to make it tougher for many Premier League teams who have playmakers in midfield.
The upfront pair would be Glenn Murray and record-signing Jose Izquierdo. The reason I chose Murray and Izquierdo is that the big man little man combo worked superbly last year for Brighton with Murray and Sam Baldock causing many Championship defences problems.
I feel this would be as effective for Albion in the Premier League with Murray and Izquierdo as Murray has plenty of experience in the Premier League and knows where the back of the net is and can hold up the ball and bring other players into play and Izquierdo possess an abundance of pace, which would allow him to run onto Murray’s knock downs and create opportunities to score.
