When Brighton & Hove Albion were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Manchester City, manager Fabian Hurzeler spoke of taking revenge the following weekend. Seven days later, his side delivered — shutting City out in a 1-0 win, ending their opponents' 23-match home scoring run.

That result lifted Brighton to third in the Premier League table, behind only Arsenal and Manchester City — both clubs they have defeated this season. What makes it all the more remarkable is the manner in which Brighton have done it: pressing high, playing with courage, and refusing to allow opponents the comfort they usually enjoy.

Goals at one end, a wall at the other

Brighton are the Premier League's top scorers with 24 goals in nine matches. Yet it is their defensive record that tells the deeper story. They have conceded just seven times — only Arsenal have been more difficult to breach.

Their approach begins from opposition goal-kicks. Brighton press immediately in a man-to-man structure, applying relentless pressure the moment the ball is played. While this is not an unusual idea in modern football, Brighton execute it with an intensity that sets them apart.

The technical challenge in pressing man-to-man from goal-kicks is that the opposition, if they use their goalkeeper as an outlet, have an extra player available. Brighton solve this by deploying one attacker to curve their pressing run toward the opposing goalkeeper — cutting off the back-pass option — while the remaining outfield players hold their individual assignments.

Leaving a player free on purpose

Brighton's man-to-man shape does occasionally leave an opposition player unmarked. Usually that player is in a wide or distant position — a full-back or winger on the far side of the pitch. Crucially, Brighton accept this risk as a deliberate trade-off: keeping more bodies concentrated around the ball increases the chance of winning it back, while the unmarked player remains far enough away to be largely irrelevant.

The plus-one principle