For once Albion fans did not have to flick through many pages to find their team.

The annual 72-page new-season football extravaganza published by the Racing Post was in the shops yesterday.

Early pages looked at Manchester City and Liverpool.

Then the teams one by one in predicted finishing order.

Chelsea were tipped for the title followed by the two Manchesters.

Arsenal, buoyed by signings including Ben White, were as high as sixth.

And then - flick, flick, flick of the pages - Albion up in 11th place.

It would be their best ever finishing position in nine top-flight seasons across two different eras.

The Racing Post put them ahead of teams including West Ham, Crystal Palace and relegated Southampton (and that was before Danny Ings left).

Seagulls fans would probably take that.

It also put them ahead of Burnley, which is always reassuring.

Finish above the Clarets and you are staying up.

As Albion were examined in depth, last season’s wastefulness in front of goal was mentioned and it was pointed out that that “Neal Maupay will have to improve his finishing if he is to fire Albion up the table”.

He is not the only one of course.

The Racing Post team are clearly confident those finishing lapses will be corrected and highlighted Graham Potter’s tactical flexibility in change of “a team who can go toe-to-toe with most on their day.”

Of course the Post’s predictions are put together with eyes on the betting markets.

That is why Mark Langdon highlighted the Seagulls as one of his five teams to watch across the top four divisions.

He cited touches in the opposition penalty area, in which Albion ranked sixth last season, and, of course, expected goals as reasons for optimism.

He then suggested looking at Potter’s men on the handicap marketing or as an each-way bet without the big six.

Albion are down the betting in terms of relegation, being quoted as long as 8/1. They are a best price of 1/10 for relegation. So how reliable is all this?

Well a flick to the back page, where Joe Burns is tipped to “lead from the front” in the first Test against India does not bode well.

England opener Burns was out fifth ball at Trent Bridge without a run on the board.

But there appears to be some feelgood factor about Albion.

TalkSPORT had them down in the customary 16th but one of their pundits, Dean Ashton, was looking way above that.

He believes they could be pushing for the top six if all goes well.

Th former West Ham striker said: “There is so much more to come from this side.

“They showed glimpses of it without being able to see teams off because of the lack of goalscorers.

“They have done a little bit of business.

“There are lots of things going Brighton’s way. Obviously the manager has had a lot of the headlines because of comments from the likes of Pep and the way his teams play.

“I just think if they continue to build on what they have done so far last season in terms of that style, in terms of taking it to a lot of sides and not quite getting over the line, I think they could surprise quite a lot.

“It wouldn’t surprise me, if they got it right, they could be up towards top six.

MARC CUCURELLA THINKS OF THE OLYMPICS, NOT BRIGHTON

“Honestly, I really liked the way they played.

“I thought they were unlucky in a lot of games.

“A little bit of naivety, maybe a slight lack of belief.

“But if they had had a goal scorer they would have won most of those games.

“I can picture a few of the games.

“The Crystal Palace game was incredible.

“They were fantastic and still Benteke scored in the last minute.

“There were lots of games like that and I think they will have done a lot of work over the summer, I’m sure.

“They could be THE surprise package of the Premier League for me.”

Of course these predictions are desperately difficult.

Even more so this season when the pre-season has been so strange.

The Prem does not get under way for another week.

But many of the pre-season publications also include the EFL, so must come out this week.

Those days of closing the transfer window before the season starts did not last long.

So much can change with that late business.

For Albion, that could mean additions on the left flank and up front. Maybe at centre-back.

And, of course, one or two departures.

Here at The Argus, we will be holding fire on any suggestions we might have as to how this season will go.

Look out for our new season pullout next Friday.

Some fans love to see their side tipped for good things.

Some will be wary of such confidence.

We know the potential of this Albion set-up.

We know how they left points out there last season and we think we know how that all can be remedied.

It seems that, away from this part of the Sussex coast, others can see it too.