The amazing Premier League table since Brighton appointed De Zerbi | OneFootball

Brighton & Hove Albion have continued to be one of the Premier League’s most remarkable stories, with Graham Potter’s successor Roberto De Zerbi doing an excellent job at the Amex Stadium.

Potter had established a reputation as one of English football’s brightest young coaches, having led the Seagulls to an exceptional start to the 2022-23 campaign.

Such was his stock, free-spending Chelsea acted to appoint him as their new manager after sacking Thomas Tuchel in September.

But Brighton’s results haven’t at all suffered since Potter departed. In fact, Brighton have picked up more points than Chelsea since their old coach left for Stamford Bridge.

That’s despite Chelsea spending hundreds of millions on new players this season while Brighton have actually turned a profit in terms of their net spend this season.

Brighton have lost Marc Cucurella, Yves Bissouma and Leandro Trossard to the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’, while newly-minted Newcastle United nabbed left-back Dan Burn and sporting director Dan Ashworth last season.

That doesn’t appear to have knocked brilliant Brighton off course, with modest signings like Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo and Kauro Mitoma firing them into the European qualification places.

“Before, they played Potter-ball, now they play De Zerbi-ball. We saw what he did at Anfield [in his first game],” Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp noted last month.

“It has worked out pretty well and it was a smart decision from Brighton to bring him in after Graham Potter left. The possession-based philosophy is very similar. Confidence changes everything in football and they are full of confidence.”

Under De Zerbi, Brighton have beaten Potter’s Chelsea 4-1 and Klopp’s Liverpool 3-0 in the Premier League. They’ve also knocked table-toppers Arsenal out of the League Cup and Liverpool out of the FA Cup.

To underline what a job the Italian coach is doing, here’s the Premier League table since De Zerbi was appointed as Brighton manager back in September.

Note: All teams have played 14 games unless otherwise specified.

1. Newcastle – 32 points, +21 GD 2. Arsenal – 32 points, +18 GD (Played 13) 3. Manchester United – 30 points, +8 GD (Played 15) 4. Manchester City – 28 points, +16 GD (Played 13) 5. Brentford – 24 points, +4 GD 6. Brighton – 21 points, +5 GD 7. Fulham – 21 points, +1 GD (Played 15) 8. Aston Villa – 21 points, -2 GD 9. Leicester City – 20 points, +7 GD 10. Chelsea – 20 points, +2 GD (Played 15) 11. Liverpool – 20 points, -3 GD 12. Tottenham – 19 points, -2 GD 13. Crystal Palace – 18 points, -8 GD 14. Nottingham Forest – 17 points, -8 GD (Played 13) 15. West Ham – 14 points, -2 GD 16. Wolverhampton – 14 points, -11 GD 17. Everton – 11 points, -11 GD 18. Leeds – 10 points, -7 GD (Played 13) 19. Bournemouth – 9 points, -11 GD 20. Southampton – 8 points, -17 GD