Brighton & Hove Albion
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Brighton & Hove Albion FPL: Who To Own, Captain And Avoid
The call — A £4.5m goalkeeper projected for more points over the next six gameweeks than anything else in Brighton's squad. That's the headline, and it tells you everything about how our model sees this team: solid, sensible, and best bought at the cheap end.
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Verbruggen is the pick. He's projected for around 18 points across the opening six, which at £4.5m is exactly the kind of boring value this column exists for. He plays every week, Brighton's defence sits mid-pack in our rankings — not a fortress, but respectable — and about 2 in 10 managers already have him, so you're not late. Goalkeepers don't get subbed off on 60 minutes. That alone puts him ahead of most shiny things.
The fixtures are a mixed bag rather than a red carpet: Villa at home, Chelsea away, Leeds at home, Coventry away, Arsenal at home, Sunderland away. Chelsea and Arsenal are the obvious potholes. But a keeper collects save points on bad days, which is why Verbruggen's projection holds up where a defender's wobbles.
If you want the outfield route, Groß at £5.5m is the model's next choice — roughly 20 points projected over the six, owned by a bit over 1 in 10 managers. He's the steady midfield accumulator: set pieces, always on the pitch, rarely spectacular, rarely a blank you resent. He won't win you a gameweek, but he won't waste a slot either.
The differentials further down are thinner gruel. Kadıoğlu at £4.5m is a genuinely cheap defender hardly anyone owns (fewer than 1 in 20), and he's fine as a fifth-defender enabler — but Brighton's clean-sheet outlook is only average, and against Chelsea and Arsenal you're mostly hoping for two points and no calamity. Diego Gomez and Vuskovic sit below him for a reason; leave them.
The honest caveat: Brighton's attack ranks seventh in our projections, but you'll notice no forward or premium midfielder makes their own top five. That's the tell — the goals are spread around too many bodies to trust any one of them. This is a team you buy at the back, not the front.
The call: buy Verbruggen. £4.5m, plays every minute, decent points most weeks, and the money you save funds a proper captain elsewhere. Groß if you need a cheap midfielder who actually starts. Everything else, walk past.