Since losing 7-0 at Nottingham Forest, Brighton have been unstoppable. We examine how one of the most embarrassing defeats in the club’s history appears to have given them new life.
If a team falls to Nottingham Forest, does it make a sound?
In the case of Brighton & Hove Albion, absolutely.
They were thoroughly humbled in a 7-0 defeat at the City Ground at the start of February, and it would have been so easy for their season to go off the rails from there.
Since then, however, Brighton have won four out of four matches in all competitions, including each of their last three Premier League games. It’s their longest winning run in the competition since September 2023.
The south-coast side haven’t exactly risen like a phoenix from the flames. It’s been more like a seagull from the doldrums.
Eyebrows were raised when the club appointed 31-year-old Fabian Hürzeler as head coach in the summer, making him the youngest ever full-time boss of a Premier League team.
It was a solid enough start, kicking off the 2024-25 season with a 3-0 win at Everton before a late 2-1 victory over Manchester United and a respectable 1-1 draw at Arsenal.
That was followed by a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Ipswich Town, which proved to be a sign of things to come. Much of Brighton’s season has been impressive results mixed with frustrating failures.
After eight games without a win between late November and early January (D6 L2), an FA Cup third-round victory at Norwich City was the first of three on the bounce, also beating Ipswich and Manchester United in the Premier League. It seemed Brighton were back on track, only for a 1-0 loss at home to Everton to be followed by a truly woeful day in Nottingham on 1 February.
Lewis Dunk’s 12th-minute own goal was hardly an ideal start against Forest, who were eager to boost their challenge for UEFA Champions League qualification. Two more goals for the hosts arrived before half-time before another four were added after the break.
Brighton’s 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Nuno Espírito Santo’s side was their heaviest league defeat since a 9-0 loss at Middlesbrough on the opening day of the 1958-59 season in the second tier.
It wasn’t just the score, it was the fact it didn’t feel like a particularly unfair one. Brighton had been torn to shreds. They conceded 3.41 xG to Forest and allowed six big chances, defined as a chance from which the attacking team would be expected to score more often than not.
It was a truly chastening afternoon and could have been enough to throw any team off their stride. After the game, Hürzeler said: “I want to see a reaction from the team, but we win together, and we lose together. It is also a test, for the individual characters and for the group, to see how we deal with this. Games like this are bad, but maybe it is a signal for us to show a reaction.”
And show a reaction they have.
Yet again it was the FA Cup to the rescue, with a comeback 2-1 win at home to Chelsea in the fourth round helping with any lingering misery. That was followed by a more convincing 3-0 victory against the same opponents on the same ground in the Premier League just a few days later, a game in which Brighton didn’t face a single shot on target.
Just to prove it wasn’t only Chelsea they could get the better of, Hürzeler saw his team stroll to a thumping 4-0 win at Southampton last weekend. It was Brighton at their effervescent best, and the Seagulls then secured a 2-1 home win over Bournemouth on Tuesday night in what was incidentally their 50th home Premier League victory.
They have tightened up after being so leaky in Nottingham, conceding just two goals in those four games. One was a frankly unstoppable strike from Justin Kluivert in Tuesday’s win over the Cherries.
Part of their resurgence has come via the form of Kaoru Mitoma. The Japanese winger could have left the club in January when Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr were reportedly offering a lot of money for his services, but Brighton held firm, and it’s paid off. Mitoma has seven goals in the Premier League this season, with four of those coming in his last seven games, while he’s scored five in his last eight in all competitions.
That included a frankly outrageous effort against Chelsea in the league fixture. Mitoma collected long pass from Bart Verbruggen with a touch so elegant and nonchalant that anyone who didn’t immediately make an involuntary noise they’ve never made before clearly wasn’t paying attention, before dispatching his shot into the far corner from the edge of the box.
His fitness has helped. Injuries limited Mitoma to just 19 Premier League appearances last season, but he has played in all 27 of Brighton’s league games in 2024-25. He has created the most chances from open play for the Sussex side this season, with his 32 at least 11 more than anyone else.
That’s not to say they are a one-man band in attack, though. Far from it.
Mitoma is one of three joint-top scorers in the Premier League for Brighton this season, with João Pedro and Danny Welbeck also on seven goals. Yankuba Minteh and Georginio Rutter aren’t far back on five each.
Welbeck actually scored his 30th Premier League goal for Brighton with the winner against Bournemouth on Tuesday, the joint most for the Seagulls in the competition along with Pascal Groß. Indeed, only in 2011-12 and 2013-14 (both nine) has the former Man Utd and Arsenal striker scored more goals in a Premier League campaign than his seven this season.
Rutter has also turned into a key figure in recent weeks and been involved in eight goals in his last nine appearances in all competitions (six goals, two assists). He followed up his goal at Southampton at the weekend with the assist for Welbeck’s winner on Tuesday.
It’s perhaps not that surprising that Rutter is scoring goals. He averages 3.0 shots per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season, more than any of his teammates (minimum 500 minutes played).
João Pedro has chipped in with his fair share of goal involvements too, with seven goals and six assists in just 21 Premier League games.
His goal from the penalty spot against Bournemouth was a familiar sight. Since the start of last season, only Mohamed Salah (16) has scored more penalties in all competitions among Premier League players than João Pedro (12).
Minteh has also contributed impressively. The former Newcastle winger has five goals and three assists despite only 11 of his 22 Premier League appearances being starts. He has as many goal involvements as Rutter despite playing over 500 minutes fewer (1,104).
Brighton’s attack seems more focused and determined now. They had only accumulated more than 2.0 xG in a Premier League game twice this season prior to the Forest game. They have done so twice again in the three games since. Attack has proved to be the best form of defence for Hürzeler’s side.
All their attacking talent, as well as improved defensive discipline, has allowed Brighton to recover from that horrible day at the City Ground. As Hürzeler said, it was going to be a test of their character, and it’s a test they have so far passed with flying colours.
Brighton are up to eighth in the Premier League table prior to Wednesday’s games, just three points behind fourth-place Chelsea and a point off Manchester City in fifth. European qualification will have seemed a long way off as the seventh goal went in at Forest, but they are very much in the conversation with 11 games remaining.
Despite that heavy defeat in Nottingham, Brighton have lost the third-fewest games in the Premier League this season (6), with only Liverpool (1) and Arsenal (3) losing fewer.
To quote the great albeit fictitious boxer Rocky Balboa: “It ain’t about how hard you can hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”
Brighton were hit very hard at Forest, but their ability to move forward since suggests their future under Hürzeler is looking as bright as ever.
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