Gross plays down Brighton’s title credentials despite move to second

Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Pascal Gross dismissed his side’s Premier League title credentials on Sunday despite a 2-0 home victory over Brentford that lifted the south coast club to second in the table. Fabian Huerzeler’s impressive side have 22 points from 10 games and head into the international break as champions Arsenal’s closest pursuers, five points adrift. The club’s best-ever start to a top-flight season included a 3-0 home win over Arsenal and has left the fans dreaming of an unlikely title challenge, less than 10 years after they were promoted from the second tier. But Gross, who scored Brighton’s second goal from the penalty spot after a spectacular opener by Diego Gomez, is keeping his feet firmly on the ground. “No. We are not in a title race. But we have started the season really well. It’s the beginning of the season,” the German said. “You see the Premier League, the margins, you look at the results — we are not getting carried away yet. “Every game we have to suffer a lot. Sometimes it is momentum. But we are really pleased to head into the international break like this.” Whatever Gross thinks, the statistics make a strong case. Brighton, whose best finish was sixth in 2022-23 under Roberto de Zerbi, are clearly not second by accident. No team has scored more than their 26 goals in the top flight this season and only Arsenal have conceded fewer. Brighton are competing in the UEFA Conference League following their eighth place finish last season and Huerzeler is balancing the demands of the hectic schedule. After last week’s victory at Manchester City they travelled to Spain to beat Getafe in midweek but looked fresh against Brentford, albeit helped by the visitors being reduced to 10 men after Igor Thiago was sent off in the first half. Huerzeler, who became the Premier League’s youngest permanent manager when he joined Brighton, aged 31, in 2024 said the fans are entitled to dream. “They should always be excited if they watch our game, and that’s our job to make them excited,” he said. “And I always say they can dream, they can have high expectations of us, but these are things we can’t control.” With fixtures against the likes of Hull City, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest after the international break, Brighton could maintain their position near the top. Huerzeler said his side still had room to can improve. “There are moments and phases in the game where the individual player, but also the whole team, can improve, and that’s the main focus for us,” he said. “It was from the beginning, and it will be also now, and it will be also in the rest of the season.”