Brighton boss Graham Potter hailed a “big step forward” as his side continued their unbeaten pre-season run with a hard-fought success over Reading at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday, which made it three summer games without defeat for the Seagulls.
Having previously drawn with Union SG and got the better of Estoril Praia, Brighton went two goals to the good against Reading thanks to Pascal Gross and Solly March’s efforts before Yakou Meitemade things interesting with a penalty just before the hour mark.
It has come as little surprise to see interest in Brighton’s star names skyrocket since Potter led his side to a top-half finish in 2021-22, but for now, the Seagulls are managing to keep hold of Manchester City target Marc Cucurella.
Brighton are understood to have rejected a £30m bid from the champions for the Spaniard, who is set to reunite with familiar opposition in Espanyol for Brighton’s final pre-season friendly on July 30.
The Seagulls are yet to test their mettle against another Premier League side this summer and will therefore relish the opportunity to do so against Brentford, whose pre-season period has been a far less enjoyable affair.
Still yet to take to the Brentford Community Stadium in pre-season while the Women’s Euros take precedence, Brentford kicked off their summer travels in ideal fashion by putting two unanswered goals past Boreham Wood on July 9.
However, Frank’s side have since tried and failed to hold their own against more revered European opposition in Stuttgart, Strasbourg and Wolfsburg, drawing 2-2 against the French side and slumping to defeats versus the two German giants by an aggregate score of 6-1.
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n Saturday’s clash with Wolfsburg, Patrick Wimmer, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Jonas Wind and Jakub Kaminski all breached the Bees’ defence in a dire performance from Frank’s side, who conceded three of the four goals on the day from set-pieces.
Following their midweek trip to Lancing, Brentford will finalise their pre-season preparations against Real Betis on their own turf, and they will still feel well-placed to challenge for a third consecutive year of Premier League football despite their underwhelming pre-season period.
Brighton marched to back-to-back wins over Brentford in the 2021-22 Premier League season without conceding a goal, although the Bees did manage to get the better of the Seagulls 2-0 on the South coast as recently as September 2016
