Where Brighton and their Premier League rivals are expected to finish this season

Brighton completed the first section of the 2026-27 campaign in impressive fashion.

Albion’s 3-0 home win against Premier League champions Arsenal leaves them a lofty third in the standings with 10 points after five matches.

Fabian Hurzeler’s men are also the leading scorers in the division with 16 goals. That’s double the amount second placed Arsenal (8) and current leaders Manchester City (8) have managed so far.

Fourth placed Brentford and ninth placed Chelsea are the next highest scorers, both have 10 goals each.

The Premier League now pauses for the international break with Brighton next in top flight action at Sunderland on October 10. Albion’s next home league match is against old rivals Crystal Palace on October 18.

Arsenal and Manchester City were expected to be challenging at the top end but Albion’s form has taken many by surprise.

Brentford (fourth), Everton (fifth), Leeds (sixth) and newly promoted Hull (seventh) have also made strong and perhaps unexpected starts to the campaign.

Hurzeler: ‘Every game we start from zero’

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler is delighted with Albion’s early form but wants them to remain humble.

“Yeah, I think it’s very important,” said the German.

“I just spoke a lot about basics, foundation and getting back to our roots, and these things are always important.

“We need to understand that every game we have to start from zero, to get a foot into the game.

“Then we go game by game.

“We will have a lot of games after the international break. We have a good and deep squad, which will definitely be important.

“I have great staff around me, so, yeah, I think it’s very important to keep focusing on the things you can control.

“We’re not focusing on the outcomes. We are focusing on our process, focusing on performances, and therefore it’s really important to go game by game to get the full potential of this team.

“I don’t know where we are at the moment, but we have to keep working hard, and everyone has to keep working hard and improving as well.”

Hurzeler may be playing it game by game... but it’s Opta’s job is to look into the future. The data experts have crunched the numbers prior to the international break and here’s where they expect Brighton and their Premier League rivals to finish.