The Belgian full-back silenced critics with a creative masterclass, delivering two inch-perfect assists to punish Wolves and proving his value within Fabian Hürzeler’s attacking system.
Maxim De Cuyper has had an up-and-down season at Brighton. His attacking play was instrumental towards the Seagulls securing a comfortable 3-0 victory over already relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Belgian international signed for Brighton last summer for around £15 million from Club Brugge, with many fans wondering what to expect.
De Cuyper was largely criticised amongst the fanbase for his defensive capabilities. Quite often, he would be caught leaving space behind him and beaten in one-on-one dribbles against most wingers. This was compensated with goals against the likes of Chelsea and Nottingham Forest.
While the attacking full-back has his limitations, his performance against Wolves was a sign of how useful he can be for Albion. De Cuyper had two assists within the opening four minutes, two very good crosses into dangerous headers, finished off by local boys Jack Hinshelwood and Lewis Dunk, respectively.
Both were excellent headers, but the weight of the pass was a key detail in both goals.
For the first goal, De Cuyper was running onto the ball, and only the most elegant of passes would’ve been weighted well enough to meet Hinshelwood at an ideal height. Hinshelwood, of course, finished the rest off magnificently well.
However, a sign to see just how productive De Cuyper could be when he is playing in the forward system.
The second was a deep ball in from a corner.
On the right side, a wand of the left foot is always a dangerous option. In-swinging passes are always tough to defend against, and Wolves had a torrid time at that anyway! Albion tend to struggle with good crosses from corners, and De Cuyper’s long cross was met excellently by the captain. Dunk’s first goal since 2024, and the Seagulls had a two-goal lead in the first five minutes.
The Belgian almost had a hat-trick of assists. In the second half, this time on his right, his pass to Pascal Groß was cleverly back-heeled towards goal. Wolves goalkeeper Dan Bentley read that one well.
A lot of credit has to be given to the head coach, Fabian Hürzeler.
Before the game, eyebrows were raised as Joël Veltman was left out of the side, but De Cuyper took his chance well. Hürzeler would’ve known it would be a game where his side would be largely on the front foot, and it was certainly a gamble that paid off.