Albion Analytics: van Hecke's century in the Premier League

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Defender reached landmark in weekend win over Clarets.

Liam Tharme

Albion Analytics

2026-04-16T06:00+01:00

Jan Paul van Hecke's 100th Premier League appearance was marked with a victory at Turf Moor. 📸 by James Boardman.

Centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke brought up a century of Premier League appearances in Brighton’s 2-0 away win over Burnley at the weekend.

The 25 year old, who debuted in August 2022, has been a mainstay in the starting XI ever since the start of 2023/24.

He is the most-used player by head coach Fabian Hurzeler (73 times), who in his pre-game press conference for Burnley said that he loved Van Hecke’s “attitude, how he works for the team (and) his mentality of winning.”

Over the past two full seasons plus this term, Brighton have a better winning record and higher points per game with van Hecke starting than without him, giving up two fewer shots per-match when he features. The ten-cap Netherlands international has played in 19 of the 22 matches in which Brighton have kept a clean sheet in that time.

Jan Paul van Hecke helped Albion keep a clean sheet in our win at Sunderland. 📸 by James Boardman.

Throughout the same period he is the leading Albion player for duels in the defensive third and headed clearances, ranking 11th in the league for the latter statistic (179).

He makes the top ten for Premier League centre-backs since August 2024 for clearances, shots blocked, the value (expected goals) of those blocked shots, aerial duels, attempted tackles and offsides provoked — for that final stat, only Ezri Konsa of Aston Villa (49) can better Van Hecke (42).

Hurzeler has praised the development of van Hecke’s traditional centre-back characteristics. "He already played at a high level, but this season he has made another step. He has improved his consistency, especially out of possession,” the head coach said, highlighting how van Hecke uses his body against physical and athletic forwards.

This showed in the win against Burnley where striker Zian Flemming, a fellow Dutchman, managed five shots but was prevented from scoring, and just two of those were on target. That afternoon, Jan Paul won four of his five ground duels, recorded seven defensive involvements (interceptions, clearances, ball recoveries) and completed 52 of his 61 passes — breaking lines is a super strength.

Jan Paul's passing has proved to be one of his strongest attributes. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

Van Hecke leads the league this season for line-breaking passes (380), also topping the charts for line-breaking passes played from a player’s own half, as well as making the most under pressure.

Of the 19 instances of a Premier League player attempting 20+ line-breaking passes in one match this season, van Hecke is the only to feature three times, in the October draw away to Wolves, the matchday one draw against Fulham and in the 3-0 win over Leeds last November.

His composure on the ball and precision passing have become key for Albion’s build-up this term. Often they split the centre-backs wide — typically van Hecke and club captain Lewis Dunk — to allow the full-backs to push on and create wide overloads. In fact, Jan Paul and Dunk make up one-third of the six Premier League players with 2,000+ passes so far this term.

He has shown ball carrying quality too, making 244 carries of ten metres or further, close to double the next best in the current Premier League season (Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa has 127). In terms of distance, he has carried the ball more than 106 lengths of the Amex pitch.

Jan Paul van Hecke battles for possession against fellow Dutchman Cody Gakpo. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

Hurzeler has understandably tipped the centre-back as future captain material, something shown by Van Hecke debuting for the Netherlands in September 2024 not long after he turned 24. For a nation which is stacked with top centre-backs, such as Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake, Micky van de Ven, Stefan de Vrij and Mathijs de Ligt, this was some achievement.

The bonus element of being a set-piece threat is becoming a part of van Hecke’s game. It took him until his 62nd Premier League appearance to net his first goal, a header in the 2-1 home win over Fulham. Since that three more goals have followed in 2025/26, with Dunk’s five strikes in 2020-21 the most by a Brighton centre-back in one Premier League season.