Albion Analytics: van Hecke's super century for Albion

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How big an impact has Jan Paul had in his Albion career?

Liam Tharme

Albion Analytics

2025-10-24T09:10+01:00

Jan Paul van Hecke has scored two goals for Albion. 📷 by James Boardman.

Centre back Jan Paul van Hecke made his 100th Albion appearance in the 2-1 home win over Newcastle United last weekend.

The 25-year-old has been a mainstay in the side since the start of 2023-24 season, establishing a strong partnership with club captain Lewis Dunk, which has formed the bedrock that Fabian Hurzeler has built his team from.

van Hecke is tied with compatriot Bart Verbruggen, Brighton’s No 1, for the most appearances made under Hurzeler, appearing 48 times in the German’s 55 matches in charge.

In many ways he is the archetypal do-it-all modern centre-back, made in the Dutch mould of Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Mathis De Ligt (Manchester United) and Micky van de Ven (Tottenham Hotspur).

He showed that on his centurion match against Newcastle, recording the most clearances (9) and shots blocked (3) of any Brighton player, while also leading the team for touches (88), passes (71) and progressive passes (8).

It was his midfield-splitting pass which picked out Georginio Rutter in the build-up to Brighton’s opener, allowing the Frenchman to find Danny Welbeck with a through ball.

Those passes have become a trademark of Van Hecke. He ranks only behind Virgil Van Dijk (457) for progressive passes since the start of last term, completing 449.

Last season he broke lines so regularly and accurately, with his progressive pass total in 2024-25 (379) the second-most by any Brighton player in a Premier League season — behind Pascal Gross’s 379 in 2023-24.

Jan Paul van Hecke headed in the equaliser at Wolves earlier on this campaign. 📷 by James Boardman.

As such, he has been involved in the build-up of 25 non-penalty Premier League goals since becoming a first-team regular, which is tied with Kyle Walker for the fifth most in the division. Only Manchester City and Liverpool players are above him on that list.

“He’s a great character, great role model and stepping more into that leadership role,” Hurzeler said after van Hecke headed in a late equaliser to give Brighton a point away to Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this month. Notably, the defender he statistically profiles most similarly to is Marquinhos at Paris Saint-Germain.

The Dutch international — with seven senior caps to his name after making his debut last September — started 33 Premier League games last year and played the second-most minutes of anyone at the club behind Verbruggen. With Dunk able to play less because of injury, van Hecke stepped up.

He has started to add forward carries to his game, driving forward when opponents sit off to open up passing angles. He dribbled into the final third 55 times in 2024-25, the third-most in Hurzeler’s side, more than double what he managed in his debut Premier League campaign (25).

Jan Paul's shirt for the Newcastle game. 📷 by James Boardman.

Van Hecke’s athleticism was key at the start of last term when Hurzeler started with a particularly high defensive line. He is not responsible directly for all of them, but the 47 offsides that Brighton have drawn since August 2023 with van Hecke onfield is the joint-third most for any defender at a Premier League team — tied with Tottenham’s Cristian Romero.

Box defending remains a super strength. He led Brighton last season for shots blocked (22), while his 142 clearances were the most by a single Brighton player in a Premier League campaign since Dan Burn made 130 in 2019-20.

This was a fundamental reason why Brighton were the best side at defending crosses in the league, with opponents completing just 16.6% (one in every six attempts), and only conceding eight times from crosses — the joint-fewest with Chelsea.