Brighton head to Czechia on October 22 2026 to face Jablonec in their second league-phase game, and the market already has them priced as clear favourites at 3/10. Fabian Hurzeler arrives with a deep squad full of quality, while Jack Hinshelwood has made himself hard to ignore after scoring in a 57 minute appearance last week and then again after coming off the bench against Crystal Palace at the weekend.
That is why this Jablonec Vs Brighton meeting is drawing attention beyond the usual European routine. Brighton have already shown what their attacking ceiling looks like by beating Kauno Zalgiris 4-0 at the Amex last week, a game in which they produced 35 shots and 4.15 xG. In simple terms, that means one team turned pressure into a flood of chances, while the other had to survive wave after wave. Hinshelwood has been part of that surge, scoring in three of his four appearances this season and six of his last nine going back to last term, with his three Premier League goals coming from just four shots worth 2.33 xG.
Hurzeler's squad depth matters because Brighton are trying to handle Europe and domestic fixtures at the same time, and that usually changes how these away games are approached. The question for readers is not whether Brighton can create chances; it is which version of them turns up and whether the XI stays close to the side that swept through Kauno Zalgiris or looks more rotated. Either way, the manager's options are broad enough to keep the level high without leaning too hard on one line-up.
Jablonec are not being sold as front-runners, yet their 3-2 defeat away to Freiburg last week shows they can stay in a game that many would expect them to lose more heavily. That is the friction in this fixture: Brighton look stronger, deeper and more in form, but Jablonec have already shown they can keep the margin respectable against better opposition. There is also a sharper edge to the appointment of Georgi Kabakov, who has shown three red cards in four European outings this season and six in his last 13 European games, making discipline a live betting angle as much as a tactical one.
Brighton still enter as the side expected to control the match, but the real test is whether they turn that edge into another comfortable night or allow Jablonec to keep the scoreline alive deep into the second half. If Hinshelwood is again involved, the talk will be about his finishing; if Kabakov reaches for another card, the story could change very quickly.
