2020–21 Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. season

Brighton & Hove Albion

2020–21 season
Chairman	Tony Bloom
Head coach	Graham Potter
Stadium	Falmer Stadium
Premier League	16th
FA Cup	Fifth round
EFL Cup	Fourth round
Top goalscorer	League: Neal Maupay (8) All: Neal Maupay (8)
Biggest win	4–0 vs Portsmouth (EFL Cup – 17 September)
Biggest defeat	0–3 vs Manchester United (EFL Cup – 30 September) 0–3 vs Leicester City (Premier League – 13 December)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

The 2020–21 season was Brighton & Hove Albion's 119th year in existence and their fourth consecutive season in the Premier League.^[1] Along with competing in the domestic league, the club also participated in the FA Cup and EFL Cup. The season covered the period from 27 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.

The Seagulls had only two pre-season matches for the 2020–21 campaign due the late season start as the result of the previous season being delayed due to COVID-19.^[2] Brighton played out two home draws, 1–1 against Chelsea with Pascal Groß scoring a 90th-minute equaliser from the spot - with 2,500 fans attending for a government trial for fans return to football - and a 0–0 with West Brom.^[3][4]

Brighton's opening game of the season was at home to Chelsea on Monday 14 September 2020. The game finished in a 3–1 defeat for The Seagulls. Ben White made his first league appearance for Brighton and Adam Lallana made his debut in this game.^[5] Brighton's first win came in their second game, a 4–0 victory over Portsmouth in the EFL Cup on the 17 September where Alexis Mac Allister, Bernardo and Viktor Gyökeres all scored their first Albion goals.^[6] The Seagulls first league victory came in their second Premier League match, a 3–0 away win over Newcastle on 20 September in a game where Yves Bissouma received his first red card for the club.^[7] On 26 September, Bruno Fernandes scored a penalty for Manchester United after the final whistle due to VAR giving handball on Neal Maupay right at the end. The converted penalty gave United the 3 points, winning 3–2.^[8] 4 days later Brigton again lost to United this time a 3–0 home loss in the EFL Cup missing out on a quarter final place.^[9] Brighton claimed their first ever Premier League points against the defending champions Liverpool in a 1–1 home draw on 28 November, where Pascal Groß scored a 93rd-minute penalty to equalise, their second penalty of the game following Neal Maupay failing to convert the first awarded in the 20th minute.^[10]

On 10 January 2021, Brighton struggled against in form League Two side Newport County in their FA Cup third round side in which they scrapped a penalty shootout win away from home, in a match where Percy Tau eventually made his debut, 905 days after signing for the club.^[11] Neal Maupay's strike away at Leeds United on 16 January was enough to end The Albion's record of 9 game winless run in the top flight – 10 including their FA Cup fixture – taking all three points to the south coast.^[12]

Brighton's first home league win of the season came on their 11th match, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on 31 January with Leandro Trossard netting the goal.^[13] This was their first home win in the league since 20 June 2020, a 2–1 victory over Arsenal.^[14] 3 days after the victory over Spurs, The Seagulls beat defending champions Liverpool at Anfield, their first League win at Liverpool since 1982 with Steven Alzate's first ever Premier League goal being the only goal of the game.^[15]

Brighton were smashed out of the FA Cup in the 94th minute with a headed goal for Kelechi Iheanacho in the 1–0 away loss at Leicester City on 10 February. Potter handed debuts to Poles, Jakub Moder and Michał Karbownik in the fifth round defeat.^[16]

On 22 February, Christian Benteke scored a 95th-minute winner to claim all 3 points against their biggest rivals taking Crystal Palace to 13th in the table after the 2–1 victory in Sussex. Joël Veltman scored his first goal for The Seagulls in the game.^[17] 5 days later, a controversial 1–0 defeat away at West Brom followed, Lewis Dunk had a goal ruled out by referee Lee Mason, causing strong criticism of Mason in the media and on Sky Sports,^[18] after blowing his whistle allowing a quick free-kick to be taken, however Mason then blew his whistle again after the free kick had been taken, denying Dunk the goal. Meanwhile, Pascal Groß and Danny Welbeck both missed from the penalty spot in the bizarre defeat at The Hawthorns.^[19]

On 20 March, Brighton matched their away meeting with Newcastle again beating The Magpies 3–0, going six points clear of the bottom three.^[20] On 20 April, Brighton earnt their first ever point at Stamford Bridge keeping a clean sheet in the 0–0 draw with Chelsea on a night The Blues withdrew from the controversary plans of the European Super League. Albion's Ben White was sent off in the 90+2 minute for a second bookable offense after putting in a strong performance throughout the game.^[21] 4 days later, Brighton lost to already relegated Sheffield United 1–0 at Bramall Lane with David McGoldrick scoring the only goal of the game. José Izquierdo came on as a substitute in his first first team appearance in 2–and–a–half years after being out with injuries.^[22][23][24]

On 9 May, in a 2–1 away loss at Wolves, Brighton had two players sent off. Lewis Dunk being dismissed first for pulling back Fábio Silva who was darting for goal, with Neal Maupay being shown red after confronting the referee, Jonathan Moss after the final whistle.^[25] A day later, Brighton's Premier League status was confirmed for a fifth consecutive season as a result of Burnley beaten Fulham 2–0 at Craven Cottage. The result actually knocked The Seagulls a place down to 16th on the night.^[26] On 18 May, in front of a reduced returning fan base, Brighton came from two goals down to beat this year's Premier League champions Manchester City. Their first win over the Cityzens since 1989. This was also Albion's first Premier League victory without captain Lewis Dunk, who was out suspended with Pascal Groß deputising in a game where Dan Burn – who scored the winner – scored his first Albion goal, and his first goal in over three years.^[27]

Brighton finished the season with a 2–0 away defeat at Arsenal and finishing the season in 16th place, equalling their best ever points tally of 41 points which was also achieved the season before. Brighton recorded their most goals scored in a Premier League season, scoring 40 and conceded 46, the fewest they have conceded. Their –6 goal difference is the best they achieved since being in the Premier League, with 12 clean sheets also being a club record.^[28]

It was a successful summer for Brighton with several players being called up by their countries for the delayed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, taken place in the summer of 2021 due to Coronavirus.^[29] Leandro Trossard for Belgium, Robert Sánchez for Spain, Joël Veltman for the Netherlands and Jakub Moder for Poland all in their respective national squads for the championships.^{[30][31][32][33]} Ben White who gained his first international call-up with England was named in their 33-man provisional squad but was later one of seven players cut.^[34][35] Andi Zeqiri was also called up for the first time by his national side Switzerland, being named in the 29-man provisional squad, but like White, was cut from the squad.^[36][37] However, White made his national debut in the first warm up match against Austria where he came on as a substitute in the 1–0 victory at the Riverside Stadium where he blocked a shot on the line in the final stages.^[38] He became the fifth Brighton player to play for England, and the second in just under three years after captain Lewis Dunk won a cap in November 2018.^[39] In the second and final warm up match he made his first international start, playing the whole match in the 1–0 win over Romania again being played at the Riverside Stadium.^[40] A day later, on 7 June, he was called up to the 26-man squad to replace the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold who picked up an injury against Austria.^[41]

As of 1 February 2021^[42]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  ENG Tariq Lamptey 3 DF  ENG Ben White 4 DF  ENG Adam Webster (vice-captain) 5 DF  ENG Lewis Dunk (captain)[43] 6 DF  POL Michał Karbownik 7 FW  IRL Aaron Connolly 8 MF  MLI Yves Bissouma 9 FW  FRA Neal Maupay 10 MF  ARG Alexis Mac Allister 11 MF  BEL Leandro Trossard 13 MF  GER Pascal Groß 14 MF  ENG Adam Lallana 15 MF  POL Jakub Moder 16 MF  IRN Alireza Jahanbakhsh

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  COL Steven Alzate 18 FW  ENG Danny Welbeck 19 MF  COL José Izquierdo 20 DF  ENG Solly March 21 FW  ROU Florin Andone 22 FW  RSA Percy Tau 23 GK  ENG Jason Steele 24 MF  NED Davy Pröpper 25 MF  ECU Moisés Caicedo 26 GK  ESP Robert Sánchez 29 FW  SUI Andi Zeqiri 31 GK  ENG Christian Walton 33 DF  ENG Dan Burn 34 DF  NED Joël Veltman

As of 3 February 2021^[44]

Players to have featured in a first-team matchday squad this season.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 44 MF  SWE Peter Gwargis 47 MF  ENG Teddy Jenks 52 DF  FRA Romaric Yapi 53 DF  BEL Lars Dendoncker

No. Pos. Nation Player 61 GK  ENG Tom McGill 54 MF  ENG Jensen Weir 67 MF  GER Reda Khadra

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2020	DM		Samy Chouchane	Boulogne-Billancourt	Undisclosed	[45]
1 July 2020	CM		Cameron Peupion	Sydney FC	Undisclosed	[46][47]
9 July 2020	CB		Leigh Kavanagh	Bray Wanderers	Free transfer	[48]
9 July 2020	MF		Andrew Moran	Bray Wanderers	Free transfer	[48]
15 July 2020	FW		Zak Emmerson	Oldham Athletic	Undisclosed	[49]
16 July 2020	RB		Casper Nilsson	Malmö FF	Undisclosed	[50]
23 July 2020	CM		Jensen Weir	Wigan Athletic	£500,000	[51]
27 July 2020	CM		Adam Lallana	Liverpool	Free transfer	[52]
29 July 2020	RB		Joël Veltman	Ajax	£900,000	[53][54]
7 August 2020	CB		Lars Dendoncker	Club Brugge	Free transfer	[55]
15 August 2020	CB		Ben Jackson	Watford	Free transfer	[56]
9 September 2020	FW		Ulrick Eneme Ella	Amiens	Undisclosed	[57]
10 September 2020	CB		Jan Paul van Hecke	NAC Breda	Undisclosed	[58]
1 October 2020	AM		Reda Khadra	Borussia Dortmund	Undisclosed	[59]
1 October 2020	FW		Andi Zeqiri	Lausanne	Undisclosed	[60]
6 October 2020	LB		Michał Karbownik	Legia Warsaw	Undisclosed	[61]
6 October 2020	CM		Jakub Moder	Lech Poznań	Undisclosed	[61]
18 October 2020	FW		Danny Welbeck	Watford	Free transfer	[62]
9 January 2021	FW		Evan Ferguson	Bohemians	Undisclosed	[63]
1 February 2021	CM		Moisés Caicedo	Independiente del Valle	Undisclosed	[64]

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Date until	Ref.
1 February 2021	CB		Jack Wakely	Chelsea U23s	End of season	[65]

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date until	Ref.
5 August 2020	CF		Percy Tau	Anderlecht	7 January 2021	[66][67][68]
14 August 2020	CF		Jan Mlakar	Maribor	End of season	[69]
21 August 2020	CB		Warren O'Hora	Milton Keynes Dons	18 January 2021	[70]
25 August 2020	CM		Taylor Richards	Doncaster Rovers	End of season	[71]
26 August 2020	CB		Matt Clarke	Derby County	End of season	[72]
26 August 2020	CM		Ryan Longman	AFC Wimbledon	End of season	[73]
27 August 2020	CB		Leo Skiri Østigård	Coventry City	End of season	[74]
1 September 2020	CF		Glenn Murray	Watford	30 January 2021	[75][76]
2 September 2020	CB		Shane Duffy	Celtic	6 May 2021	[77]
2 September 2020	GK		Tom McGill	Crawley Town	12 January 2021	[78]
15 September 2020	GK		Roco Rees	Worthing	End of season	[79]
17 September 2020	CB		Jan Paul van Hecke	SC Heerenveen	End of season	[80]
26 September 2020	GK		Toby Bull	Worthing	30 September 2020	[81]
2 October 2020	CF		Viktor Gyökeres	Swansea City	14 January 2021	[82]
5 October 2020	LB		Alex Cochrane	Union SG	End of season	[83]
6 October 2020	CB		Tudor Băluță	Dynamo Kyiv	End of season	[84]
6 October 2020	LB		Michał Karbownik	Legia Warsaw	17 January 2021	[61]
6 October 2020	CM		Jakub Moder	Lech Poznań	31 December 2020	[61][85]
16 October 2020	CB		Haydon Roberts	Rochdale	End of season	[86]
5 January 2021	CM		Jayson Molumby	Preston North End	End of season	[87]
15 January 2021	CF		Viktor Gyökeres	Coventry City	End of season	[88]
19 January 2021	LB		Bernardo	Red Bull Salzburg	End of season	[89]
22 January 2021	GK		Mathew Ryan	Arsenal	End of season	[90]

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2020	CB		Luca Cocoracchio	Worthing	Released	[91][92]
1 July 2020	RB		Archie Davies	Crawley Town	Released	[91][93]
1 July 2020	CM		Jordan Davies	Wrexham	Released	[91][94]
1 July 2020	CB		Ben Clark-Eden	Pagham	Released	[95][96]
1 July 2020	LB		Lewis Freestone	Cheltenham Town	Released	[91][97]
1 July 2020	GK		Hugo Keto	HJK	Released	[91][98]
1 July 2020	CB		Kacper Łopata	Sheffield United	Released	[91][99]
1 July 2020	CF		Bojan Radulovic	AIK	Released	[91][100]
6 July 2020	LB		George Cox	Fortuna Sittard	£45,000	[101]
8 July 2020	RW		Anthony Knockaert	Fulham	£15,000,000	[102]
18 July 2020	RB		Ezequiel Schelotto	Racing	Released	[103][104]
22 July 2020	CM		Beram Kayal	Bnei Sakhnin	Released	[105][106]
25 August 2020	RB		Martín Montoya	Real Betis	Undisclosed	[107]
1 September 2020	CM		Aaron Mooy	Shanghai SIPG	£4,000,000	[108][109]
5 September 2020	GK		David Button	West Bromwich Albion	£500,000	[110]
24 September 2020	CM		Dale Stephens	Burnley	Undisclosed	[111]
18 January 2021	CB		Warren O'Hora	Milton Keynes Dons	Undisclosed	[112]
1 February 2021	CF		Glenn Murray	Nottingham Forest	Free transfer	[113]
1 February 2021	CM		Max Sanders	Lincoln City	Undisclosed	[114]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

The 2020–21 season fixtures were released on 20 August.^[116]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		EFL Cup		FA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
23	GK	ENG	Jason Steele	4	0	0	0	3	0	1	0
26	GK	ESP	Robert Sánchez	27	0	27	0	0	0	0	0
31	GK	ENG	Christian Walton	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Defenders
2	DF	ENG	Tariq Lamptey	11	1	11	1	0	0	0	0
3	DF	ENG	Ben White	39	0	36	0	1	0	2	0
4	DF	ENG	Adam Webster	31	1	29	1	0	0	2	0
5	DF	ENG	Lewis Dunk	37	5	33	5	1	0	3	0
6	DF	POL	Michał Karbownik	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
20	DF	ENG	Solly March	23	3	19+2	2	0	0	1+1	1
33	DF	ENG	Dan Burn	32	1	23+4	1	3	0	2	0
34	DF	NED	Joël Veltman	34	1	25+3	1	3	0	1+2	0
Midfielders
8	MF	MLI	Yves Bissouma	39	2	35+1	1	0	0	2+1	1
10	MF	ARG	Alexis Mac Allister	27	3	13+8	1	3	2	2+1	0
11	MF	BEL	Leandro Trossard	38	5	30+5	5	0+1	0	0+2	0
13	MF	GER	Pascal Groß	40	3	27+7	3	3	0	2+1	0
14	MF	ENG	Adam Lallana	31	1	16+14	1	0	0	1	0
15	MF	POL	Jakub Moder	13	0	7+5	0	0	0	1	0
16	MF	IRN	Alireza Jahanbakhsh	25	2	6+15	0	3	2	1	0
17	MF	COL	Steven Alzate	17	2	10+5	1	0	0	2	1
19	MF	COL	Jose Izquierdo	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
24	MF	NED	Davy Pröpper	10	0	1+5	0	2	0	1+1	0
25	MF	ECU	Moisés Caicedo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
44	MF	SWE	Peter Gwargis	2	0	0	0	0+2	0	0	0
47	MF	ENG	Teddy Jenks	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
67	MF	GER	Reda Khadra	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
7	FW	IRL	Aaron Connolly	17	2	9+8	2	0	0	0	0
9	FW	FRA	Neal Maupay	36	8	29+4	8	0+1	0	1+1	0
18	FW	ENG	Danny Welbeck	24	6	17+7	6	0	0	0	0
21	FW	ROU	Florin Andone	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	FW	RSA	Percy Tau	6	0	1+2	0	0	0	2+1	0
29	FW	SUI	Andi Zeqiri	12	0	0+9	0	0	0	3	0
Players who left the club permanently or on loan during the season
1	GK	AUS	Mathew Ryan[90]	11	0	11	0	0	0	0	0
6	DF	ENG	Dale Stephens[111]	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
30	DF	BRA	Bernardo[89]	7	1	2+1	0	3	1	0+1	0
41	MF	ENG	Max Sanders[114]	3	0	0	0	1+2	0	0	0
42	FW	SWE	Viktor Gyökeres[82]	3	1	0	0	3	1	0	0
43	DF	ENG	Alex Cochrane[83]	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
46	DF	ENG	Haydon Roberts[86]	2	0	0	0	1+1	0	0	0
49	MF	IRL	Jayson Molumby[87]	3	0	0+1	0	2	0	0	0

Note

• Dale Stephens joined Burnley on 24 September on a permanent transfer.^[111]

• Viktor Gyökeres joined Swansea City on 2 October on a season–long loan deal.^[82]

• Alex Cochrane joined Union SG on 5 October on a season–long loan deal.^[83]

• Haydon Roberts joined Rochdale on 16 October on a season–long loan deal.^[86]

• Jayson Molumby joined Preston North End on 5 January on loan for the remainder of the season.^[87]

• Bernardo joined Red Bull Salzburg on 19 January on a loan deal until the end of the season.^[89]

• Maty Ryan joined Arsenal on 22 January on loan until the end of the season.^[90]

• Max Sanders joined Lincoln City on 1 February on a permanent transfer.^[114]