Faith in young manager Fabian Hürzeler, and a reshaped defence, gives hope of a sustained push for European place
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 8th (NB: this is not necessarily Ed Aarons’ prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 8th
Although Brighton missed out on qualifying for Europe again, there was a sense of optimism rather than disappointment at the end of Fabian Hürzeler’s first season at the helm. Had it not been for a costly loss of form in the spring that brought one point from four league games and a defeat by Nottingham Forest on penalties in the last eight of the FA Cup, the German head coach might even have matched his predecessor, Roberto De Zerbi’s achievement of finishing sixth.
After a raft of injuries to key players all season and with several signings from a summer spending spree of almost £200m struggling to settle, it was to Hürzeler’s credit that his team ended only one point short of Brighton’s record points tally from 2023 after three wins to round off the campaign. Now, in the words of chair Tony Bloom, with the youngest permanent Premier League manager having gained a year’s experience, “we are hoping for more next season”.
