Fabian Hürzeler's Brighton are third, top scorers, and the best in the league at winning the ball high. How the player-for-player press works, how they build up, where it breaks, and how to copy it in FM26.
Updated 20 Oct 2026 · after the Premier League win over Crystal Palace (18 Oct), before Jablonec
| 20 Aug | UECL | at TromsøPlay-off, 1st leg | 0–0 | no xG |
| 23 Aug | PL | vs Aston VillaVilla down to 10 from 40' | 4–0 | 3.770.29 |
| 27 Aug | UECL | vs TromsøThrough 4–0 on aggregate | 4–0 | 2.720.22 |
| 30 Aug | PL | at Chelsea74% possession, still lost | 3–4 | 1.412.93 |
| 5 Sep | PL | vs LeedsVušković header from a corner | 1–1 | 2.192.49 |
| 13 Sep | PL | at CoventryCoventry down to 10 early in the second half | 5–0 | 2.811.33 |
| 16 Sep | EFL | at Man UnitedFrom 2–0 down after nine minutes | 3–2 | 2.141.20 |
| 19 Sep | PL | vs ArsenalEnded Arsenal's perfect start | 3–0 | 1.311.63 |
| 10 Oct | PL | at SunderlandTen men from 57' (Struijk); 38% possession | 2–0 | 1.410.72 |
| 15 Oct | UECL | vs Kauno ŽalgirisRutter 2, Hinshelwood, O'Riley; 78% possession | 4–0 | 4.020.04 |
| 18 Oct | PL | vs Crystal PalaceThree up inside ten minutes; Gómez from 51.3 m | 5–0 | 2.000.77 |
FotMob recorded a 4-2-3-1 in every league game it covered. Against Arsenal it was Verbruggen; Kadıoğlu, Vušković, Struijk, Boscagli; Chema Andrés and Ayari; Gómez, Groß and De Cuyper; Kostoulas up front. In practice the numbers barely hold: Groß starts as a midfielder, drops beside the centre-backs to build, and finishes attacks from the edge of the box.
The summer changed the spine. Baleba (to Manchester United, £65m) and Van Hecke (to Tottenham, about £52m) left; Vušković (about £46m from Tottenham), Struijk (from Leeds) and Chema Andrés (from Stuttgart, about €22m) came in. Andrés, 1.93m tall, is the fixed number 6 that lets Groß roam. Welbeck left for Chelsea, and 19-year-old Kostoulas is now the first-choice striker.
What it is. Brighton don't press spaces, they press people. When the opponent's keeper or centre-back gets the ball, each Brighton player jumps onto the nearest man. The Mastermind puts it neatly: it isn't that everyone has a fixed man, it's that everyone has someone to watch.
The trigger. A back-pass or a pass out from the goalkeeper. Groß or Yalcouyé usually jumps first and the rest follow (The Mastermind). The striker curves his run so he presses the keeper and blocks the pass to one centre-back at the same time. That is Ayari's run in the animation.
The bet. Pressing man-to-man leaves Brighton's centre-backs one-on-one with the opposing forwards. It works when those forwards want the ball to feet, because Vušković and Struijk can follow them anywhere. Against Arsenal nobody ran in behind, so there was no cost. Brighton won the ball in the final third nine times in the first 15 minutes, matching Liverpool's record against Arsenal from December 2023 (Goal, Opta).
Hürzeler's description after the Arsenal game: We were horrible to play against. Intensity, intensity, winning the personal duels.
Groß drops, Boscagli climbs. With the ball, Brighton are just as patient as they are frantic without it. They averaged about 70% possession in the league games before Arsenal, including 74% at Chelsea, the most any side has had against Chelsea since 2003-04 (Opta). Dunk, when he plays, is the hub, with about 90 passes a game, 23 more than any teammate (The Mastermind). Groß drops to the left of the centre-backs, so the left-back Boscagli can push up to a winger's height.
Switching play. From there Brighton switch play. Boscagli's left foot and Groß's passes inside move the ball to the far side before the opponent can shift across, and the attack ends with crosses and cut-backs to runners. De Cuyper, a full-back by trade, now plays on the left wing and has scored against Villa, Tromsø and United.
How sure is this? Only The Mastermind describes the build-up roles in this detail. Read the animation as an illustration of that pattern, not a replay of one move.
Brighton score in more ways than most. Against Arsenal: a regain turned into a shot within seconds, a 40-metre carry on the break, and a corner. At Old Trafford: one long ball over the top. Each is animated below, with Brighton attacking up the page.
Goal animations are reconstructed from match reports and broadcast descriptions; positions are approximate. Brighton (filled dots) attack up the page.
Starts deep, finishes at the edge of the box. 3 goals and 3 assists in the first five league games, more involvements than anyone (Opta); he then set up De Cuyper's opener at Sunderland. Hürzeler: “You can really trust him and he makes the team-mates around him really better.”
The first-choice striker since Welbeck left for Chelsea. Six goal involvements this season, twice his total for all of 2025-26 (Opta). Scored against Coventry, Arsenal, Tromsø and Manchester United.
Signed from Stuttgart on 1 Sep. The fixed 6 who frees Groß, and a set-piece target at 1.93m: headed in the third against Arsenal on his league debut.
About £46m from Tottenham. Follows forwards deep into midfield when Brighton press, and scored the equaliser against Leeds with a header from a corner.
A full-back by trade, now used further forward. Scored against Villa, Tromsø, Manchester United and Sunderland, and takes corners.
Space behind. The bet doesn't always pay. At Stamford Bridge Brighton had 74% of the ball and still conceded four goals from 2.93 xG. The goals came from a messed-up clearance at a corner, a cut-back, a counter-attack and Palmer running at the back line. Leeds created 2.12 xG in the first 25 minutes at the Amex, the most by an away side in a first half there since October 2021 (beIN, Sky). When the first press is beaten, the space behind is enormous.
Finishing above the chances. Brighton have scored 23 league goals from about 14.9 xG and conceded 5 from about 10.2 (FotMob). Some of that is quality: Groß and Kostoulas are shooting well from the edge of the box. But a gap that size usually shrinks.
The fixture load. The Conference League league phase began on 15 October, and the injury list was already long in mid-September: Mitoma, Minteh, Wieffer, Hinshelwood, Ferguson and others (Fantasy Football Scout, 18 Sep). A press that depends on every player sprinting is the first thing to suffer when the squad is stretched.
Brighton beat Crystal Palace 5-0 at the Amex on 18 October, their fourth league win in a row, 15-0 on aggregate (Opta). They were three up inside ten minutes: Canvot turned Groß's cross into his own net (4'), Gómez saw the goalkeeper off his line and scored from 51.3 metres, around the halfway line (7'), and Ayari finished after Kostoulas' backheel (10'). Kostoulas added the fourth (49'), and substitute Hinshelwood scored the fifth from close range after Vušković headed the ball back across (84'). Brighton had 57% of the ball, 17 shots to 5 and 2.00 xG to 0.77 (FotMob). Hürzeler: “It's not a one-man show so I credit my players and my staff” (Sky Sports). Next: Jablonec away in the Conference League on 22 October, Liverpool away on 25 October and Manchester City away in the EFL Cup on 28 October (FotMob).
What did you make of it? Short takes from readers.
Facts cross-checked in at least two sources where possible; details of the press and build-up roles come mainly from The Mastermind and are flagged as such. Goal minutes follow Sky, FotMob and Opta where they agree.