Sussex

A new episode of BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast is now available to listen to and download on BBC Sounds.

Former Albion players Warren Aspinall and Guy Butters join Johnny Cantor to react to Sunday's win at Sunderland and hear from goalscorer Jaouen Hadjam.

Plus, the Conference League gets underway this week and author David Pugh profiles Getafe - possibly the Seagulls' toughest league phase opponents.

There is also the small matter of looking forward to next weekend's visit of rivals Crystal Palace.

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

Explore all Brighton content on BBC Sounds

Listen to every Brighton game live on BBC Radio Sussex, with all the build-up and full commentary with Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall, and there is a full preview of all Seagulls' matches on Fridays at 18:00 in The Weekend Warm-up

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

Imagine a world where Manchester City had not used "sham contracts" to build a team capable of winning three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and three EFL Cups.

If City were the winners, then there had to be losers - and not just those teams who finished runners-up or lost cup finals.

The potential impact runs much deeper and includes missed Champions League qualification, relegation and Premier League prize money.

Thirty-five other teams played in the English top flight between 2009 and 2018.

And every one could in some way claim to have been left financially out of pocket.

Learn more about how the numbers were calculated here

Image source, Getty Images

Lithuanian journalist Mantas Krasnickas spoke to BBC Radio Sussex to give insight into Brighton's Conference League opponents Kauno Zalgiris and said there will be a "huge gap" between the ages of the squads on display at the Amex.

The Seagulls will get their European campaign up and running against Lithuania's champions, who are something of an unknown quantity in England. Krasnickas explained how their fate changed when they merged with one of Lithuania's leading basketball clubs.

"I expected them to win their first title earlier but they didn't manage to do that," he said.

"The main thing was becoming part of Kauno Zalgiris - joining the basketball organisation. From that point, they started growing, the budget started growing. They managed to get some really great players and became a competitive team in Lithuania. With the budget growing, they became a top two club in Lithuania. It was written in the stars that they were going to win someday.

"They are the second team in Lithuanian history to make it to the Conference League. It is huge for them because the budget is something around 4.5m euros per season and it was a growing budget from last year. They got more than 4m euros for qualifying, so it's almost doubling their budget now.

"I also commentate on the Premier League in Lithuania. I like Brighton very much for how they work. They have a base of young players, bringing talents and showing what they're capable of.

"In Lithuania, it's an old fellas league. Many players are at their prime or past it, so if you look at the age differences in the starting line-ups before the game you will see a huge gap, I am pretty sure of that."

Listen to the full chat on BBC Sounds here

Brighton have identified Red Bull Salzburg's Polish attacking midfielder Bartosz Mazurek, 19, as a leading January target. (Teamtalk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Sunderland and Brighton.

Here are some of your comments:

Sunderland fans

Maxi: That was not good enough and most fans would agree that without Brobbey we are toothless upfront. No one equipped themselves well. Even Xhaka was under par. Roefs is too casual with his kicking and we looked clueless against 10 men. Le Bris needs to address our lack of goals at home. We are set up not to lose so when we go a goal down we lack guile.

Graham: Underwhelming in so many ways for us, yet, full respect for a team who looked calm, efficient and comfortable - at least by comparison.

Jura: Even with 10 men Brighton managed the game better than us and if we don't find a way of consistently scoring more goals the Brighton game will epitomise our season.

John: We are definitely at risk. We do not have the squad to compete in Europe and cups plus the league. Additional injuries to key players will make it very difficult.

Brighton fans

Norman: This was a masterpiece of overcoming adversity on the football field. A poor VAR decision didn't stop the excellent Seagulls from claiming all three points. Great result.

Daniel: Beginning to wonder just how far we can go this year!

Stuart: This was always going to be a stern test for us. The Arsenal result was fantastic, but we tend to do well against the top teams. It's the teams around us where we often struggle. Sunderland are a good team, winning there is a positive step for us when we might have expected to drop points. Game to game now as we have a very busy period. Nervously positive...

Terence: Brilliant. We fear nobody.

Barry: A dogged performance, so different from the victory over Arsenal. Struijk's red card was fully justified. Taking out Isidor was 'Serious Foul Play'. Very surprised that it needed to go to VAR.

Niall McCaughan
Final Score reporter

Image source, Getty Images

We saw how brilliant the Seagulls were in dismantling Arsenal before the international break, scoring three unanswered goals in a free-flowing performance against the champions.

No Premier League side had scored more heading in to the game with Sunderland on Saturday and the Seagulls added another two to increase that tally to 18.

At the Stadium of Light, they proved that even when the chips are down they can dig out a result.

Pascal Struijk's red card reduced Brighton to 10 men just four minutes after Maxim de Cuyper had handed them the lead.

Yes, Sunderland were poor in capitalising on the numerical advantage, but take nothing away from the visitors, who had to survive 40 minutes a player light.

Credit to Fabian Hurzeler, who quickly identified the necessary tactical tweaks to maximise his team's chances of a result, with substitute Jaouen Hadjam scoring the decisive second on the counter-attack in stoppage time.

We have seen Brighton hammer the champions and win with 10 men away from home in the past two games, lifting them to third in the Premier League table.

There is a theory that the top Premier League sides are able to win games in different ways, and Brighton have definitely shown that characteristic already this season.

Goalscorers Maxim de Cuyper and Jaouen Hadjam spoke to BBC Radio Sussex after Brighton's 2-0 victory at Sunderland.

De Cuyper said: "We knew it before, this away game [was] maybe one of the hardest in the league. We knew what was coming on us and it's good that we survived the first half because it was not our best performance.

"Actually, we did a good job because we were still in the game. Then, when the spaces are a little bit bigger in the second half, we created chances. That's how we did it.

"We have some structure in how we want to play, but we also have the freedom to do, in certain moments, what you want to do and what you feel is good. There's a lot of fluidity and that's what makes it difficult for other teams."

Hadjam, who came off the bench for his Premier League debut, added: "I'm really happy for my first minutes in the Premier League and first goal. When we are substitutes we have to make the difference.

"I have to be patient, step by step. I know my time is coming so when the coach calls me I have to be present."

Hear the full interview with De Cuyper above, click below to listen to Hadjam or head to BBC Sounds to discover the latest Brighton content

Everton hold the strongest interest in Rennes striker Esteban Lepaul, although Brighton, Aston Villa, Brentford and Leeds United have the 26-year-old France international on their radar. (Teamtalk, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport