It’s easier just to say you’re impressed and move on.

There’s a lot of bluffing when it comes to Brighton. Seek out analysis of how Fabian Hurzeler has them charging towards the summit of the Premier League table and you’ll find a lot of bluster about being “well coached” and having an excellent scouting network. Both true, of course, but it’s a politician’s answer to the question, evasive because the details remain largely unknown.

Herein lies their genius.

Brighton are rarely understood. Nobody really talks about them because nobody can follow the tactical complexity, which is itself a symptom of constantly rotating the first XI between different players you’ve never heard of.

Add to that the fact Brighton rarely seem to be in a watchable TV slot and you’ve got a club shrouded in mystery, a black box that may as well be magic for all we know about how they keep defying expectations.

It is highly likely this applies just as much to their opponents as it does neutral fans, at least until there is a large enough sample size for tacticians to pour over and find faults, hence Brighton’s history of fast starts.

Last season they won 22 points from the first 13 Premier League games. The year before that it was 22 from the first 12. The runs get shorter when you go further back, but in 2023/24 it was 15 points from six, in 2022/23 13 points from six, and in 2021/22 12 points from five.

Fabian Hurzeler has Brighton flying this season

That’s six consecutive Premier League campaigns, across three different managers, racing out of the blocks. The only constant in that time is the sheer volume of change in personnel both in transfers and squad rotation, scrambling the brains of their opponents in the process.

The rest of the scrambling can be explained by the urgency of their vertical, hard-pressing football, which has gone to new heights this season.

Brighton have the lowest PPDA in the division (8.6) while they top the charts for pressed sequences (90) and high turnovers (80), which tells us they press high and hard like maniacs.

This is disorienting for teams yet to get to grips with the new players, but, like the surprise factor, it is something that cannot really last.

The energy it takes to press like that can only come at the beginning of the season. Once we settle into the winter grind, and once the midweeks fractured by Europa Conference League football begin to take their toll, those pressing stats will decline – and so will results.

Yasin Ayari celebrates his goal for Brighton against Crystal Palace

That’s not to say Hurzeler’s infectious, wide-eyed optimism cannot keep enough momentum to squeeze Brighton into the Champions League, especially if Manchester City are removed from the equation when sanctions are announced.

The depth of their bench is pretty remarkable, while their newfound ability to score goals is reason enough to think Brighton will ride out the winter months better than in years gone by.

Six consecutive wins in all competitions, and five with clean sheets, is an outstanding record that puts Hurzeler’s side in a strong position to sneak into the top five.

But they are not in a title challenge. Eventually they will begin to be worked out...by the world-class tacticians of the Premier League, that is.

The rest of us will keeping watch on; incredulous, wowed, and – though a little ashamed to admit it – not entirely sure what we’re watching.

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