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Brighton hope to complete the double over Manchester City this Saturday at the Etihad
Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke was a key player when the Seagulls beat Manchester City 2-1 at the Amex Stadium last November.
Erling Haaland put Pep Guradiola's Premier League champions ahead but second-half goals from Joao Pedro and Matt O'Riley sealed three points for Brighton.
Van Hecke enjoyed a fierce tussle with City striker Haaland that day and the two clashed towards the end of the match which saw Van Hecke go to ground.
Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, confronts Jan Paul van Hecke of Brighton & Hove AlbionPep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, confronts Jan Paul van Hecke of Brighton & Hove Albion
Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, confronts Jan Paul van Hecke of Brighton & Hove Albion
The incident infuriated City boss Guardiola who confronted Albion's Dutch international after the final whistle.
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It was a bizarre incident that seemed to confuse Van Hecke, who later played down the spat and said he had all the respect for Guardiola.
“He just asked me what happened in the box and I explained,” said the Brighton man at the time. “He is a great manager. You see the way his team played at the end of last season, we lost 4-0 and I felt like the whole game I was in a rondo. I only have a lot of respect for him.”
Guardiola thought Van Hecke went down too easily after colliding with Haaland but then praised his performance to Sussex World in the post-match press conference.
Brighton and van Hecke will hope to complete the double over Guardiola and City this Saturday at the Etihad Stadium and victory would be a major boost for seventh-placed Albion's Champions League hopes.
Van Hecke scored his first goal for Brighton in last Saturday's 2-1 win against Fulham. It was their sixth consecutive victory in all competitions following their painful 7-0 loss at Nottingham Forest last month.
Van Hecke was understandably full of confidence after the Fulham result and insists Brighton are capable of beating anytime in this division. “We can beat anyone,” said the 24-year-old.
"I think everyone knows now, before as well it was just one game [the defeat at Forest]. But it's just like everyone realised we need to give everything in the Premier League.
“From the first minute to the 90th minute because otherwise you can't win and I think you can see a real togetherness.
"If you look around at a player like me and you look around at your teammates and you see there are people who really want to win and want to fight and I think we are really hard to beat and we can beat almost everyone in the league but we need to keep on going.”
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