Seagulls Central

What We Learnt From Brighton's TWO Pre-Season Wins Vs Wolfsburg


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Adam MacDonald from Seagulls Central analyses both of Brighton & Hove Albion’s pre-season victories over VfL Wolfsburg as the Seagulls concluded their summer preparations for the 2025/26 Premier League season unbeaten.Brighton & Hove Albion enjoyed a perfect end to pre-season with two wins in one day against Bundesliga side Wolfsburg. In the behind-closed-doors match at the Lancing training ground, Albion recorded a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Brajan Gruda and Jeremy Sarmiento. Joel Veltman, Facundo Buonanotte, Ferdi Kadioglu and new striker Stefanos Tzimas all got valuable minutes, while Jason Steele kept a clean sheet.Later that day, in front of a lively crowd at the American Express Stadium, Brighton claimed a 2-1 win in their final friendly before the Premier League kicks off. Georginio Rutter, the club’s record signing, opened the scoring in the 17th minute after linking up with Yasin Ayari, slotting a precise finish into the bottom left corner. The French forward caused constant problems for Wolfsburg’s defence, and after the match spoke about his growing relationship on the pitch with Matt O’Riley, who played in the no. 10.The second goal came from Belgian left-back Maxim De Cuyper, making his Amex debut after signing from Club Brugge. De Cuyper showed composure to score from a tight angle in the 73rd minute after Mats Wieffer’s cross was parried into his path. Earlier, he had already won the crowd over with a clever drag back and turn in front of the West Lower. Head coach Fabian Hurzeler praised his “natural” integration into the squad, saying he has rarely seen a player settle so easily on a human level, and that his understanding with team-mates is already visible on the pitch.Bart Verbruggen, returning from a knee injury, made several key saves, including a superb one-on-one stop from Lovro Majer and a late smother to deny Kilian Fischer. Although Rogerio’s angled strike slipped through him for Wolfsburg’s goal in the 80th minute, the Dutch international looked sharp and on his way to becoming ready for competitive action.With Brighton & Hove Albion finishing pre-season unbeaten - winning five out of six games and scoring 13 goals - optimism is high ahead of the Premier League 2025/26 season. Hurzeler’s attacking style, the form of Rutter, De Cuyper and Verbruggen, and depth provided by players such as Kaoru Mitoma, Yankuba Minteh and Diego Gomez will all be key.Next up, Brighton & Hove Albion vs Fulham at the Amex - the first chance to see if pre-season momentum can translate into Premier League points. Fans searching for Brighton match highlights, Brighton goals, Hurzeler tactics, Rutter goals and De Cuyper debut moments will be watching closely.

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