Manchester City aim to restart their dismal season as they welcome Brighton and Hove Albion to the Etihad Stadium. The Blues suffered a ninth defeat of the season at Nottingham Forest last weekend and with Chelsea winning their match, it means City drop again out of the Champions League spot.
Brighton sit two points behind City in 7th place and victory over the Blues on Saturday afternoon would see them leapfrog City into fifth place. In fact, City could drop as low as 8th should they lose to the Seagulls, a measure of how far they have dropped this season.
Form
Brighton go into the match on the back of six straight wins, four in the league and two in the FA Cup and their last defeat was a 7-0 thrashing at Nottingham Forest. That was only their second defeat in 15 matches and is a run that has taken them to the brink of European qualification again.
Brighton’s away form has been quite decent this season, winning six and losing four of their 14 games so far. They have hit 25 goals but have also conceded 24, keeping five clean sheets, four in the league, on their travels so far this season. Brighton have also only failed to score once in all their matches on the road so far.
Danger Men
Joao Pedro is the man leading the Brighton charge with eight goals so far. His last goal was a 98th minute winner against Fulham in their last game. Former United striker Danny Welbeck and Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma have seven goals each.
Pedro also leads the way with assists, with six chances taken from 22 created, making the message very clear to City - Stop Pedro.
The Boss
Fabian Hürzeler is the man in charge at the Amex Stadium. The German manager arrived in the South Coast in July last year from St Pauli and has impressed in his first season in charge. From 34 matches, he has won 17 and lost just seven, giving him a win ratio of an impressive 50%.
Last Time Out
The two teams met in November, with Brighton running out 2-1 winners. Erling Haaland had given City the lead in the first half, but two goals in five minutes gave Brighton the points.
At the Etihad Stadium last season, City were 2-0 up after just 19 minutes and it looked like the Blues would enjoy a landslide victory. However, a goal in the 73rd minute made life nervous for the Faithful, who were reduced to 10 men when Manuel Akanji was sent off, but the Blues held on for the win.