Brighton & Hove Albion 0-0 Ipswich Town - Alex Jones' verdict

Kieran McKenna was proud of his side's resilient defensive performance (Image: Ross Halls)

A brilliant point

Ipswich were expected to lose at the Amex Stadium, with the bookies seemingly giving them around 4/1 odds of claiming the win. No, they weren’t able to do that, but they certainly raised some eyebrows by earning a draw away at one of the in-form sides in the division.

Brighton have been established at this level for a number of years now. Although they’re not one of English football’s behemoths, they’ve established themselves as a top Premier League side. Last season, they competed in the Europa League, and even though Roberto De Zerbi moved on, their squad looks stronger than it ever has done.

They had the highest net spend in the division and now look like a side that could challenge to get back into the top six, if not the top four. They’ve shown that by beating Everton and Manchester United before taking a point at Arsenal.

They aren’t a team in transition, as many thought they might be. Ipswich, on the other hand, are, with loads of new faces still adapting to life at the club. 

All things considered, a point against the Seagulls at this stage of the season is a serious achievement for them. 

Ipswich faced significant pressure throughout the 90 minutes (Image: PA)

Up against it

The scoreline and the match itself are two very different things. There’s no denying that Ipswich were under the cosh throughout, and no shame in it either. Brighton were totally dominant. Stats are never the be-all and end-all, and the Blues will obviously point to that today, but they certainly paint a story for what we saw.

Fabian Hürzeler’s side ended up with 70% possession. They registered an xG of 1.73 from 21 shots, six of which hit the target. In contrast, Town had six shots and just one on target. They had eight touches in Brighton’s box and never really laid a glove on them. Sammie Szmodics, one of Ipswich’s biggest threats so far this season, had just nine touches in 59 minutes.

There were two real chances to take all three points. The first was when Liam Delap burst down the right and smacked the post. The second came when Omari Hutchinson ran from deep inside his own half before rolling a tame effort into the gloves of Bart Verbruggen.

If one of those two had gone in, it would’ve gone from a fantastic point into an absolutely astonishing win. That would’ve have changed how the game played out on the pitch though, and Kieran McKenna is adamant that his side will improve over time.

In the mean time, the incredible defensive resilience that they showed will take them a long way.

Arijanet Muric has received significant praise for his performance in Sussex (Image: Ross Halls)

Two superstars

There were a number of standouts in the Town team. Dara O’Shea looked really good on his debut while Jacob Greaves built on his strong start to the season. Leif Davis handled the one-v-one threat of Yankuba Minteh and Kalvin Phillips put in arguably his strongest performance of the season so far.

There were two players who really caught the eye, however. The first was Axel Tuanzebe, who limited Kaoru Mitoma to very little. The versatile defender was singled out by Brighton boss Hürzeler, who admitted that his Japanese winger had a tough time against 'a very strong defender' and would’ve found it much easier against a slower opponent.

The 26-year-old has been sidelined with injury issues for much of his senior career, so to see him have an extended run of games is brilliant. His performance levels have been sky-high and he’s ensured that he’s one of the first names on the team sheet.

Muric, of course, deserves a special mention too. The goalkeeper has gone through some tough times since moving to Suffolk, from his mistakes against Manchester City to his controversial expulsion from the Kosovo national team. His head could’ve been absolutely anywhere in the build-up to this game, but he ensured it was purely on football.

Sofascore’s analytics-based rating system gave him a 9.1 out of 10, the highest in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon. He made six saves, three high punches, three high claims and prevented 2.22 goals based on xGOT (expected goals on target).

He was totally dominant in his box, with his stand-out moment coming 10 minutes before the break as he denied both Georginio Rutter and Mitoma in the space of a few seconds. Without him, there’s no way the Blues would’ve left Sussex with a result.

Wes Burns returned to the Blues' starting lineup at the Amex Stadium (Image: Ross Halls)

Welcome back boys!

It was really promising to see Wes Burns and George Hirst back in action for Ipswich. The former was put in from the start, playing an hour. The latter came off the bench with around 30 minutes to play.

It was a tough game for Burns, who’s obviously lacking match fitness. He didn’t get a lot of time on the ball, meaning that he was chasing shadows for a lot of the time, but he doubled up well with Tuanzebe to limit Mitoma’s threat. By the time he was subbed off, he looked shattered.

Hirst picked up right where he left off at the end of last season, doing exactly what he needed to in the latter stages. The ball stuck to him like glue, with his ability to hold it in the final third giving Town a chance to breathe and reset when Brighton pushed for a late winner.

Nathan Broadhead and Harry Clarke are the only two players who are yet to return to full fitness. Both are back in group training and won’t be far away. When that happens, Ipswich will hopefully have their entire squad available. That’ll leave some tough decisions.

Woolfenden, Cameron Burgess, Ali Al-Hamadi and Jack Taylor were among those left out. They’re tough calls to make, as these players all want to play week in, week out, so being left out of the squad will hurt. When Broadhead and Clarke return, those decisions will only get harder.

That being said, it’s really good to have so many options, and McKenna would obviously much rather have it that way.

Town head to Southampton in their next game (Image: Ross Halls)

Just one more thing…

Ipswich have scored twice, they’ve got a clean sheet, they’ve taken points off Fulham and Brighton. One more thing remains.

The Blues just need a win, something that they haven’t managed at all in 2024/25 due to their Carabao Cup exit against AFC Wimbledon. The performances are all well and good, and for now, they’re the priority, but picking up three points will soon be very important.

Confidence is key, and these performances and will provide that in abundance. A win will do even more to boost the momentum and the morale at the club.

Southampton away looks like a good place to start. The Saints have lost all four of their Premier League games so far and their players may have last season’s games against Town in their minds. These are still very early days, regardless of what happens at St. Mary's next Saturday.

We’ve seen a bit of everything from Town so far - scintillating attacking play, defensive resilience and the odd mistake, but so far, there’s little to suggest that this team aren’t on track. The proof will need to come in the next few weeks and months.