Top Brighton picks for 23/24 FPL

Now that their fixtures and FPL player prices have been confirmed, here are the top Brighton picks for 2023/24.

Not only did Brighton not suffer from the departure of head coach Graham Potter, things got even better under Roberto De Zerbi. A sixth-placed finish secured them European football for the first time, playing an attacking brand of football that made their FPL assets become total bargains.

Yet with some key player departures, a congested schedule and inevitable price rises, how should FPL managers approach the Brighton options?

Fixture Ticker

Thanks to Fantasy Football Scout, we can see that Brighton’s fixtures rank best until Gameweek 3. However, things quickly turn so that they’re actually second-worst over the first nine rounds.

They face five of last season’s top seven in a spell of just six matches. With this in mind, FPL managers that don’t intend to deploy an early Wildcard may want to avoid over-committing on the Seagulls.

Brighton’s defence

Their backline was impressive throughout the season, conceding once in their opening four games. Later clean sheets arrived versus Liverpool, Man United and Arsenal.

• Brighton conceded the third-fewest shots on target (131) after Man City and Newcastle
• Similarly, were fifth-best at preventing attempts, shots inside the box and expected goals (xGC)

So they’re very capable of successful shut-outs beyond those Luton and Wolves outings.

Top Brighton picks in defence

By the end, Pervis Estupinan emerged as their true star. The Ecuadorian left-back was bought to replace Marc Cucurella and bagged a return in six successive matches from Gameweek 20. From that point, no FPL defender collected more penalty area touches (56) and only two had more shots.

His 17-point haul away to Arsenal in Double Gameweek 36 brought a goal, assist and clean sheet. With this in mind, it was a surprise to his 23/24 price rise only to £5.0m, meaning he’s already part of the community’s summer template.

Meanwhile, they’re probably the hardest team to predict between the sticks. Jason Steele (£4.5m) took over from Robert Sanchez (£4.5m) from Gameweek 26, bringing six shut-outs and an average of 4.33 points over 15 matches. Not only do both keepers remain (for now) but Brighton have also spent big on Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m). It’s too early to guess who’ll start beyond the early Gameweeks.

Brighton’s attack

As a team previously known for lacking an end product to their lovely football, things changed this time.

• Nobody – not even champions Man City – had more attempts (613) or shots on target (225)
• Plus their expected goals (xG) tally ranked as second-best.

From Gameweek 13 onwards, they scored in all-but-one match. Goals aren’t a problem anymore, it’s simply about identifying which attackers can be relied upon.

Top Brighton picks in attack

Their three main midfielders are all priced at £6.5m, with Julio Enciso‘s late-season flourish providing a tempting £5.5m option. The 19-year-old had seven attacking returns from only 794 minutes and is classified as a midfielder rather than a forward.

Despite the huge popularity of Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m), Solly March (£6.5m) and Alexis Mac Allister (£6.0m) over the final weeks, Pascal Gross (£6.5m) outscored them all over the whole season. On most set-pieces, his nine goals and eight assists were under-the-radar but perhaps he’ll be back on penalties now that Mac Allister has departed.

Elsewhere, Mitoma was virtually unknown in FPL until after the World Cup break. With Leandro Trossard on his way out, the Japanese international exploded onto the scene with four goals and 42 points between Gameweeks 18 and 22. Yet just two more strikes came after that, only once exceeding seven points in a match. A strong dribbler who regularly gets into the box, was Mitoma simply a purple patch or is he worthy of the popularity?

March also finished poorly, not netting after Gameweek 27. The winger was actually without a goal since November 2020 but, post-World Cup, he produced six FPL goals and six assists. In fact, March is mostly about creativity, being fifth-best at setting up big chances in this period.

Up front, there may be a desire to own wonderkid Evan Ferguson (£6.0m) but minutes were already limited before Joao Pedro‘s (£5.5m) recent arrival. Six goals from 10 starts and 965 minutes is a brilliant rate but there’s also Danny Welbeck (£6.0m) around.

“I think it’s going to be rotated a lot with the three strikers. We have a lot of games, the cups, the Premier League and Europe. There are a lot of games so we have to wait and see.” – Evan Ferguson

Conclusion

Great underlying stats in both defence and attack suggest that Brighton assets will be fixture-proof. Starting with Estupinan and Mitoma is recommended but both are in competitive price points.

For those wanting to save money, Enciso could be a £5.5m bargain but there’s too much rotation uncertainty over Ferguson, Joao Pedro and the goalkeepers.