Fabian Hurzeler says Albion’s array of forward players are firing each other on.

Whatever the reason, his team have found an attacking efficiency which has not been seen in previous seasons.

The Albion head coach had close to a full complement at Bournemouth on Saturday, with the exception of long-term absentee Solly March.

Yankuba Minteh was not involved in the matchday squad but has seen recent action with Gambia.

Amid a lot of excitement, Hurzeler lined up Kaoru Mitoma, Joao Pedro and Georginio Rutter around Danny Welbeck.

Evan Ferguson went on late in the game while Brajan Gruda and Julio Enciso remained on the bench.

And it was that attacking class which won the day.

Premier League top scorer and former England No.9 Alan Shearer went as far as to say that attacking power can make the difference for the Seagulls when final placings are sorted out.

There is certainly a notable difference in their stats so far this season.

For the first time in the Expected Goals era, Albion are scoring more than the statisticians say they should be doing.

Their current tally of 21 goals is 3.5 more than their xG figure of 17.5.

The only team outperforming their xG figure to a greater extent are Wolves with 20 goals scored compared to an expectation of just 13.

And we know Wolves can be lethal. That comeback at the Amex is currently keeping the Seagulls out of second place.

The xG stats so far this season generally correspond to what has actually happened in games that Albion have won, drawn or lost.

Bournemouth was an exception. xG had it down as a 2-1 win for the Cherries with figures of 1.63 and 0.94 for the two teams.

If we round numbers up or down, the 0-0 draw with Ipswich should have been a 2-0 home win, given the xG stats were 1.66 versus just 0.35.

And the 1-0 win at Newcastle should, according to xG, have resulted in a 2-1 defeat.

So this efficiency has to be a positive – and a bit of a change.

Albion have never previously scored more goals than their xG.

Last season’s figures showed an xG of 58 and a goals tally of 55.

Before that, an xG of 74.5 was a touch higher than their actual score of 72.

Then we come to peak Graham Potter, when xG first became a topic of conversation and consternation.

In 2021-22, their xG was 48.3 and they scored 42 goals.

The season before that, before empty stands and an armchair audience, they were expected to score 51.7 goals but only managed 40.

And we can all think of a few games which contributed heavily to that under-achievement.

So, even with Joao Pedro ruled out of the starting XI from the Arsenal game in round three to Bournemouth in round 12, they are making the most of their approach work.

All four ace cards were involved in both goals at the Vitality Stadium.

Others will get chances, one would imagine, in the busy period which awaits.

Equally, it is inevitable there will be suggestions players not starting will want more playing time.

We have already seen sketchy suggestions of Ferguson eyeing a loan and Porto, struggling to keep pace with Sporting and even a below-par Benfica and now dumped out of the cup by minnows, being keen on Enciso.

That sort of talk will continue as January looms but we have seen in recent times how a squad can run out of players in a certain position.

Equally, there is an unseen reason why they are playing a key role, as Hurzeler highlighted after the win at Bournemouth.

The head coach said: “It is good to have this competition in the squad.

“We also missed Minteh today, Gruda and Julio didn’t play so we have a lot of options.

“It is very big competition and this competition improves the hunger, improves the individual player in training.

“We hope that we keep this availability.”

Hurzeler’s comments regarding high levels of competition in training suggest he will be keen to keep all his attacking resources on board.

In terms of training, Welbeck has spoken about Bobby Zamora’s presence this season as a specialist coach.

We do not know for sure whether that is a factor behind the improved attacking efficiency but Welbeck spoke highly of him.

He told The Argus: “Bobby has been coming in like two or three times a week and working with us.

“It's so good to have him there. The manager can't just focus on the attackers so it's really good that Bobby's there.

“He’s giving the strikers his little pointers, he puts on exercises for us.

“It has been really good and I’ve really enjoying working with him.

“I'm looking forward to carrying on working with him because even in the meetings that we go into, he's giving great little tips and pieces of advice as well.”

There is always scope for improvement. Albion are out-performing their xG – but that xG currently ranks only 11th in the league.

So to increase that number and to keep outperforming it seems an obvious goal.

And that is only at the attacking end.

Their xG against is 20.2, although they have conceded 16 goals, and only five teams have a higher figure, topped by next opponents Southampton on 26.2.