Brighton & Hove Albion FPL: Who To Own, Captain And Avoid

Brighton Are Quietly Priced Like a Mid-Table Side — And They're Not One

Our model has Brighton with one of the league's sharpest attacks and one of its meanest defences — top four at both ends — and the fixture list is about to hand them Leeds at home, Coventry away, Sunderland away and Palace at home. Arsenal and Liverpool are the two spikes in the run, but four of the next six are the kind you buy defenders for.

So yes, this is a squad worth buying into. The question is through whom, and here's where the value sits: the back end. Brighton's attackers are priced for names; the defence is priced like nobody's checked. De Cuyper at £4.7m is the pick of the lot — nailed, on corners, and a wing-back who gets forward enough to add attacking returns to the clean-sheet money. Only about 1 in 10 managers have him, which is a gift for a defender we project among the best-value picks in the game over the next six. That's your buy.

If you want the midfield route, note the order carefully. Diego Gomez at £5.0m is the one our model prefers — nailed, hardly owned (fewer than 1 in 10), and usually good for a steady return with the odd big week in him. Groß is the safer name and holds every set piece in the building — penalties, free kicks, corners — but Gomez is the sharper buy at half a million less. Don't overthink it.

The honest caveats: this is two gameweeks of starts, not two months, so "nailed" carries the usual early-season asterisk. Brighton also rotate more than most, which is exactly why the cheap centre-backs (Wieffer, Dunk) are tempting but second-tier picks here — they'll keep clean sheets when the team does, but they won't add attacking points on top. And Kadıoğlu has one start, so he's a watch, not a buy, however pretty the £4.4m price looks.

What changes the call? De Cuyper losing his shirt or the corners. Neither has happened, and until it does, a £4.7m defender who starts every week, takes set pieces and faces Leeds, Coventry, Sunderland and Palace in his next six is about as good as value gets at that price.

The call: buy De Cuyper now, before the Leeds game. Gomez if you've got a midfield slot going spare.