Report: Why Maupay Was Dropped For Spurs Clash?

Maupay dropped due to bust-up after Baggies Draw.

Potter must find alternative during striker exile.

Image credit: Getty Images.

Graham Potter controversially dropped Neal Maupay before Brighton and Hove Albion's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

Brighton and Hove Albion took on Tottenham in London and performed well, despite eventually losing the game 2-1. Tariq Lamptey scored his maiden Premier League goal, but it was sandwiched between a questionable Harry Kane penalty and a Gareth Bale header.

Before the game, Brighton fans would have been very confused when they saw the team sheet. There were two notable absentees, Maty Ryan and Neal Maupay were left out of the starting line-up. Ryan had been dropped to the bench whereas Maupay was left out of the squad entirely.

Ryan's replacement, Robert Sánchez, was perfectly competent between the posts. Upfront, however, Brighton lacked that cutting edge due to the absence of Maupay. It has now been revealed in the Athletic that the reason behind the Frenchman's dropping was a fallout with another Brighton player.

Andy Naylor, the Brighton correspondent for the Athletic, has said that the reason Maupay was dropped was due to a fallout between himself and a teammate after Brighton's 1-1 draw with West Brom the previous match-day.

Graham Potter confirmed this in his press conference:

"But sometimes mistakes are made, and tempers are high, people get frustrated and emotional, which you want to a certain extent.

"We are in professional sport at the highest level, and sometimes the line gets crossed, and it is how you react to that.

"There is no problem with Neal; it is something we have to deal with as an incident and moved forward from it.

"He has trained with us this week and accepts it wasn't his finest hour.

Graham Potter on Maupay conflict.

It seems as though Maupay could be a problem in the dressing room at the moment, which is not good news for manager Graham Potter. The 24-year-old was the seagull's top goalscorer last season, and his goals arguably kept the team in the Premier League.

Potter must find a way of reintegrating the striker into the team or Brighton could struggle to score the necessary goals to keep them afloat. In the meantime, the English manager is likely to stick with Leandro Trossard as a striker.

Though during Maupay's exile could be over soon, Potter could experiment with Aaron Connolly, Danny Welbeck or with Premier League new boy, Andi Zeqiri.