Sussex

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With the October international break now firmly in the rearview mirror, Opta Analyst, external have turned their attention to the next four Premier League fixtures.

Here, they have given each team a ranking between 80 and 100 and then found the average to determine to difficulty of the schedule.

Liverpool's opening seven matches were ranked the easiest in the league, but their upcoming four are the fourth-toughest in the division. They will face Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Brighton, with an average opponent strength of 91.4 before the next international break.

Fellow early pacesetters Arsenal also have challenging fixtures, playing Bournemouth, Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea with an average rating of 90.7, while Manchester City's next four against Wolves, Southampton, Bournemouth and Brighton are ranked the third-easiest by Opta.

Chelsea and Brighton have the second-hardest and third-hardest runs respectively, a real test given the promising starts for their new managers Enzo Maresca and Fabian Hurzeler.

At the other end of the table, Leicester - who recently secured their first win of the season against Bournemouth - have a chance to build with the easiest run in the division. They face Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich and Manchester United.

Fellow promoted side Ipswich will hope to pick up their first win of the season during a run of games that is ranked the fifth-easiest.

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Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler says "it will be a fight" against Newcastle because playing well is not enough to get a result at St James' Park.

Albion travel to Tyneside on Saturday hoping to pick up where they left off from their stunning second half comeback against Tottenham before the international break.

"Now we try to get the mindset right to be ready for this tough game," Hurzeler said.

"It's not that you go there and can just play the best football. No, it will be a fight. You have to work for the game, you have to work for the momentum - and you work for it by doing the duels.

"You have to go into duels. You have to win them. You have to be ruthless. Then when you win the duels, you can gain self-confidence and then you will get the momentum.

"Then the quality from us might be shining if you have the confidence and can play football.

"But before that, it's working, working, working, fighting, fighting, fighting."

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Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler has been fined by the Football Association for acting in an improper manner.

The Albion boss had been charged following an incident during their Premier League match against Nottingham Forest on 22 September involving Nuno Espirito Santo and Morgan Gibbs-White.

Hurzeler admitted to his charge after receiving a red card and has received an £8,000 fine after accepting the standard penalty.

Unlike his Forest counterpart Nuno, who will miss three matches, the German has avoided a touchline ban.

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BBC Radio Newcastle's Matthew Raisbeck says the Magpies look "a lot fitter" than they did at the start of the season and believes Brighton's trip to St James' Park on Saturday could be "a lot of fun".

"Earlier this season they were not playing well but it did not look like they were fully fit," he told the Albion Unlimited podcast. "They have got a new performance director at the club called James Bunce and Eddie Howe has said they've worked together really well.

"A lot of fans have been asking the question about any kind of directive from above to just ease off in training a little bit. We've asked questions about that in press conferences.

"Eddie Howe has said that a lot of players have come back late from the summer break and international break and were just a bit sluggish at the start. What we've seen in the past couple of weeks is a team that is a lot fitter."

Both Newcastle and Brighton have picked up 12 points from their opening seven games and are side by side in the early Premier League table in sixth and seventh respectively.

Raisbeck is expecting an open and entertaining game when the two collide.

"Maybe it's just coincidental but if Newcastle are fit and aggressive like they were against Manchester City at home and Brighton come to play like they do it could be a lot of fun," Raisbeck said.

"It could be very open which the crowd will enjoy. Newcastle don't have a good record against Brighton home or away so there's always a little bit of anxiety around this fixture."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Image source, Opta

After the October international break, the Opta supercomputer has updated its projected final Premier League table.

It is only seven matches into the campaign so much can still change, but the season is beginning to take shape. The supercomputer simulates thousands of seasons and takes the percentage each side finishes in each league position.

After a strong start under Enzo Maresca, Chelsea's chances of finishing fourth have increased from 19.5% to 37.1%.

Newcastle are second favourites for fourth spot at 15.1% - down slightly from 17.5% at the start of the campaign - followed by Tottenham at 14% which is up slightly from 11.6% before a ball was kicked.

Aston Villa's continued good form has seen their probability of finishing fourth go from 5.6% to 13.2%, with their most likely finish now fifth at 18.1%. Before the start of the season it was seventh or eighth, both at 11.1%.

Manchester United's poor start is reflected in their chance of finishing fourth dropping from 12.9% to just 2.1%.

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Simon Adingra believes it is possible for Brighton to qualify for a European competition again and said "if you play once in Europe you always want to play again".

The winger, who has only made one league start for Brighton this season and has missed the past two games because of injury, said: "We have a competitive squad, with a new manager and system.

"I want to play more but the coach decides, so I have to keep going and show I want to play."

After playing in the Europa League last season, the 22-year-old wants the Seagulls to have a quick return to playing in Europe: "We have a target and we want to be competitive for the top six, we are in a good way.

"Once you play in Europe you always want to play again, it's nice to travel and see new countries and players - it's a good feeling.

"We all want to do it again, Europe is our target. You always dream to play against big teams.

"It's possible, we just have to be positive and keep working - the Premier League is not easy, we know that we have to be humble."

Ahead of Saturday's fixture against Newcastle, he agreed with what his old coach Roberto de Zerbi said previously - that St James' Park has the best atmosphere in the Premier League.

"When you are on the pitch you feel proud to be at a place like that, a lot of people are watching you, it gives you motivation," said Adingra.

Listen to the full interview here

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Do you know who Brighton's fastest player is?

We've gathered the data from the season so far - and it's a winger whose surname begins with M.

Find out over here

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Former Brighton striker Warren Aspinall says Evan Ferguson still has to adapt to the change in playing style from former boss Roberto De Zerbi to current head coach Fabian Hurzeler.

Ferguson started both games for the Republic or Ireland over the international break but has not scored for club or country since November 2023 and has struggled for form since returning from the ankle injury that ended his season in April.

"You can't forget he's still a teenager," Aspinall told BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast.

"He's made his 11th international start so you have to say congratulations to him. As a teenager, he's just trying to integrate into the first team - and has already got 11 caps under his belt.

"The injury set him back a long way and but also the De Zerbi way of coming short for everything. I don't think Hurzeler wants his centre-forwards to do that.

"So, Ferguson has to get his game going again; stretching teams and playing as a natural centre-forward and not in the De Zerbi way of coming short all the time."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds