Albion Analytics: Reviewing the win over Luton

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Albion got their campaign off to the perfect start with a 4-1 victory over the Hatters.

Liam Tharme

Albion Analytics

2023-08-15T06:00:00Z

Simon Adingra marked his first Premier League appearance with a goal.

Albion got their 2023-24 season off to the perfect start with a 4-1 home win over Luton.

It means that four of their last five seasons have begun in winning ways, the only exception being a home defeat to Chelsea in 2020/21.

The win is very much a case of Brighton picking up where they left off last season under Roberto De Zerbi. It was their 19th home game in all competitions in the Italian’s tenure, with 11 wins, 3 draws and just 5 losses in that time. Brighton averaged 62.4% possession in those matches and have scored exactly twice as many (42) goals as they have conceded (21), keeping eight clean sheets and scoring at least three times in eight of those matches.

In fact, compared to all 40 games under De Zerbi, it was Brighton’s best for touches in the opposition box (51, only at home to Crystal Palace in 2021 did they have more, with 52). This was the tenth occasion where Albion have recorded over 70% possession in a game in all competitions, and only Arsenal had a higher share of possession in Saturday’s Premier League fixtures.

The head coach said “I think we played well — not one of the best games in my time. But we need much time to reach the same level, the same quality of play as last season. Maybe we could move the ball faster, change parts where we were attacking. But I am really pleased.”

De Zerbi may not have been delighted but it was an effective attacking performance for Brighton against a stubborn defensive unit. It was only their second win in six games against teams starting with a back three/five since 2022-23. Only Newcastle (9) had more than Brighton’s 6 big chances in matchday 1, but 27 shots and 12 on target were the most of any team in the Saturday Premier League fixtures, meanwhile only at home to Brentford in April (33 and 15) did Brighton have more in a single game under De Zerbi.

Those chances equated to 4.01xG, as per Opta, the second time in Premier League history that Brighton have registered more than 4xG in a single game, following the aforementioned Brentford draw. It was the fifth time they scored three second-half goals in a league game under De Zerbi too.

Even more impressive was the spread of Brighton’s attack; nine of the ten starting Albion outfielders attempted at least one shot and six a chance created. James Milner, into his 22nd consecutive Premier League season, was the only starter not to shoot.

Joao Pedro and Simon Adingra’s goals, Brighton’s third and fourth of the game, can be added to the list of Albion players to score on their Premier League debut. Jurgen Locadia (versus Swansea in February 2018); Neal Maupay (away to Watford in August 2019); Leandro Trossard (versus West Ham, also in August 2019) were the only three to do so previously.

Joao Pedro played off Danny Welbeck as a No 10 in the Brighton attack, often roaming left to combine with Pervis Estupinan and Kaoru Mitoma. “Because they play with five at the back, it’s difficult for us to play between them, but in the second-half De Zerbi told me to drop a little bit,” Joao said at full-time. It was an all-action debut for the Brazilian, recording the joint-most shots (4), dribbles (5) and the outright-most touches in the opposition box (11).

50.4% of Brighton’s attacking touches came down the left-hand side of the pitch, their highest proportion in a league game since the start of last season, while their 23 crosses from the left in the home defeat to Everton was the only time they have crossed more from that part of the pitch than they did against Luton (16). Work for De Zerbi to do, but an excellent start to the season.