Brighton’s title ambitions played down by Pascal Gross despite flying start

Pascal Gross has rejected talk of Brighton & Hove Albion mounting a Premier League title challenge, despite Fabian Hurzeler’s side moving up to second place with a convincing 2-0 win over Brentford on Sunday.

Brighton have taken 22 points from their first 10 matches and trail leaders Arsenal by five points as the Premier League pauses for the international break. Their strong start has included a 3-0 victory against Arsenal, while Sunday’s win was secured by Diego Gomez’s spectacular opening goal and a second-half penalty from Gross.

The German midfielder said Brighton must not allow their position in the table to raise expectations beyond what is realistic.

“No. We are not in a title race. But we have started the season really well. It’s the beginning of the season,” Gross 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.”

Brighton’s early-season progress is reflected in a number of statistics. No side has scored more than their 26 Premier League goals this season, while only Arsenal have conceded fewer.

Hurzeler’s team are also combining their domestic campaign with matches in the UEFA Conference League, but the manager believes Brighton supporters are justified in imagining what might be possible.

“They should always be excited if they watch our game, and that’s our job to make them excited,” Hurzeler said. “They can dream, they can have high expectations of us, but these are things we can’t control.”

The 31-year-old manager, who took charge of Brighton before the season, refused to make any prediction about where his side might finish. Instead, he said their priority was to keep improving despite an encouraging opening to the campaign.

Brighton’s next fixtures will provide further tests of their form, with Hull City, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest to come. Hurzeler said the team could still develop in both its collective performance and the contribution of individual players.

“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.