Conference League could add new dynamic to Brighton’s goalkeeper hierarchy

When Fabian Hurzeler became Brighton & Hove Albion’s head coach two years ago, he made Bart Verbruggen his undisputed No 1.

That decision has been vindicated by Verbruggen’s performances at club level and his growth into the top goalkeeper for the Netherlands, but there is still a case for Jason Steele to be wearing the gloves in the Conference League this season.

Former head coach Roberto De Zerbi rotated between Verbruggen and Steele in 2023-24, when Brighton reached the last 16 of the Europa League. Verbruggen made 27 appearances across all competitions that season, with Steele close behind on 23.

The job-share arrangement was driven by Steele’s understanding of the passing requirements for a goalkeeper as part of De Zerbi’s forensic method of building the play from the back, and gave Verbruggen time to adapt after moving from Anderlecht in July 2023.

Circumstances have changed under Hurzeler. Verbruggen made his 77th Premier League appearance in succession in Saturday’s 1-1 home draw against Leeds. Steele’s only two league appearances over the past two seasons came at the beginning of Hurzeler’s reign in 2024-25, when Verbruggen was injured.

Steele has featured prominently in the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup (eight appearances compared to four for Verbruggen since the summer of 2024). This pattern is likely to continue away to Manchester United in the third round of the Carabao Cup next week — Steele kept goal at Old Trafford for a 2-1 win in the third round of the FA Cup in January.

Before that, Verbruggen’s ever-present run in the league is set to stretch further on Sunday away to promoted Coventry City, a game that will pit him against former team-mate Carl Rushworth. He was sold at the beginning of August for an initial fee of £22.5million — which could rise to £30m once add-ons and instalments are taken into account.

“While we would have liked to keep Carl with the club for longer, we respect his decision to secure regular first-team football in the Premier League with Coventry,” sporting director Mike Cave said in a club release at the time of the sale. Rushworth grew tired of waiting for a chance to disrupt the domination of Verbruggen and Steele in the No 1 and No 2 spots after a series of loans which culminated in him impressing at Coventry in the Championship last season.

Rushworth’s departure has clarified the goalkeeper situation at Brighton. Verbruggen played in both legs of the 4-0 win on aggregate against Norwegian side Tromso in the Conference League play-off round in August, after Steele had been given extra time off following his role as England’s training goalkeeper at this summer’s World Cup. Hurzeler values 36-year-old Steele’s dressing room input, which is even more relevant now after a summer cull of the core group of experienced professionals. Steele, long-serving skipper Lewis Dunk and Pascal Gross are the only players left from that group.

It would make sense for Hurzeler to use Steele in the six Conference League group fixtures between October and December, when the number of matches ramps up. He is a dependable performer with vast experience. This would give Verbruggen precious periods to rest his body and his mind — maintaining concentration, irrespective of the scale of involvement during a game, is important for goalkeepers. He will also be busy across this spell for the Netherlands if he remains first choice under new national manager Xavi Hernandez — Verbruggen was in goal for the Dutch under Ronald Koeman at this summer’s World Cup as they went out of the tournament on penalties against Morocco in the last 32.

Verbruggen looks on in despair as a Moroccan penalty squirms over the line (Luke Hales/Getty Images)

Verbruggen has made a mixed start to his club campaign. It began with three clean sheets, a 0-0 draw away to Tromso followed by successive 4-0 home wins against Aston Villa in the league and Tromso in the second leg of that Conference League clash. He then conceded four goals at Chelsea in a 4-3 defeat, gifting Romeo Lavia a tap-in for the hosts in the fourth minute after fumbling a Joao Pedro header which had been blocked on the line by Mats Wieffer.

Verbruggen has made more errors (five) leading to goals in the Premier League than any other ‘keeper since the start of last season. That is one more than compatriot Robin Roefs, the No 1 at Sunderland.

Verbruggen should have saved Harry Wilson’s late free kick in a 2-1 defeat at Fulham in January. Bukayo Saka’s goal squirmed through him in a 1-0 win for Arsenal at the Amex Stadium in March, and he missed his punch for Pedro Porro to break the deadlock in a 2-2 draw at Tottenham in April. He then came out of his area and slipped for William Osula’s opening goal in a 3-1 loss at Newcastle in May

However, Verbruggen generally performs well in the shot-stopping department. There was a good example of that early in the second half against Leeds, when he stuck out his right leg to stop the visitors from doubling their lead after the ball broke from a long throw for Anton Stach to shoot from close range.

Last season, only Manchester United’s Senne Lammens (+6.5) and Manchester City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma (+5.7) prevented more goals than Verbruggen (+5.5). This is calculated using the xGOT (expected goals on target) metric, which estimates the quality of on-target shots based on their placement within the goal — values closer to 1 mean they are harder to save, closer to 0 means the goalkeeper should save them. Comparing the cumulative xGOT with the number of goals they actually concede gives an estimate for performance.

A 50-shot rolling average can be applied to that statistic to see how Verbruggen generally performs. The graph below shows that he has been a positive shot-stopping influence across the last 12 months, recovering from a dip in form towards the end of 2024-25.

Another major weapon in Verbruggen’s armoury is how well he distributes, both with short and long-range passing. His calmness on the ball and ability to break lines with his passing is important to Hurzeler’s style of play — no goalkeeper made more passes last season. Verbruggen’s distribution map (below) shows that he is happy to go short from open play and is comfortable going either way.

Verbruggen illustrated his strengths in possession in the early stages against Leeds with a raking pass that released Maxim De Cuyper one-v-one against Jayden Bogle. It led to a foul and a booking for the visitors’ goal scorer.

That errors-leading-to-goals statistic is unflattering for Verbruggen, but he only turned 24 last month. That is still young for a goalkeeper, and he has room for development. With Steele for company, both domestically and in Europe this season, Brighton are in safe hands.

Additional reporting: Thom Harris