Who can stop Brighton’s ­ascension in English and European football? They are setting standards, ­practices ­leaving almost everybody else ­trailing in their wake. A ­second‑place position in the ­Premier League would once have read like a glitch in a ­Football ­Manager ­session. Not in November 2026, where they appear the only team capable of throwing down any sort of challenge to Arsenal.Under low winter sun, Brentford, an opposition to which Brighton are often, if lazily, compared, were ­swatted aside. If Keith Andrews’s team, and their fans at the Amex ­Stadium, could level blame at a couple of ­refereeing decisions, they received little chance of rescuing anything. Brighton squeezed them, toyed with them. Continue reading…

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