Manchester City welcome Brighton to the Etihad on Saturday. It’s another huge game in the race for 4th.
Manchester City had a crunch match with Nottingham Forest in their last Premier League game.
Pep Guardiola’s side went into that one in 4th but it was Nuno Espirito Santo’s 3rd place side who came out on top, as Forest beat Man City 1-0 to pile yet more misery on City’s 2024/25 campaign so far.
There’s now just five points standing between City in 5th and Fulham down in 10th place of the Premier League table. Brighton currently sit in 7th and just one point behind City, whilst Newcastle United in 6th play league leaders Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
For Guardiola, a win here could see them leapfrog Chelsea in 4th who are two points ahead and who play Arsenal on Sunday. But earlier in the season, Brighton beat Man City at the AMEX, and the Seagulls take some sublime form into this weekend.
Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
Fabian Hurzeler speaks out on Pep Guardiola ahead of Man City vs Brighton
Brighton have won their last six games in all competitions. They’ve beaten Chelsea in the league and in the FA Cup, thumping Southampton 4-0 away from home and then beating Fulham 2-1 in their last outing. City meanwhile have been knocked out of the Champions League, and beaten by Liverpool and Forest, with just two wins in their last five, and three losses.
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Speaking to the press ahead of the weekend, Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler was asked if he’ll be keeping a tally of his record against Guardiola, which is currently one win from one. The German replied: “Honestly not.”
He then went on to suggest that, ‘maybe’, Guardiola remains the best manager in the world, despite the struggles of this season. Hurzeler continued: “Because like I said, the most important for me is the success from the club. And it’s not about me against, maybe the best manager in the world, it’s about Brighton against City.”
Brighton’s record in 2025 vs Man City’s
With City playing in multiple tournaments this season, they’ve played four more games than Brighton so far in 2025. Despite that, both have nine wins to their name in the New Year.
And Brighton have been much more watertight at the back conceding 13 goals compared to City’s 25, even with a 7-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest thrown in there.
City’s main hope of beating Brighton might come via the fact that they’ve 17 more goals than Brighton in 2025.
Statistic Man City in 2025 Brighton in 2025
Games 16 12
Wins 9 9
Draws 1 1
Losses 6 2
Goals for 42 25
Goals against 25 13
Kick off is at 3pm on Saturday.