Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City
The Premier League has barely begun and it’s time for an international break.
Such is the madness calendar in modern football, it also means that there will be some form of early pressure on whichever manager tastes defeat on the south coast on Sunday afternoon.
That’s because neither club has had the start they craved.
So, who can we expect to deliver Premier League 2025 highlights – Brighton or Manchester City?
Either way, a compelling encounter surely awaits.
Talking Points
All the onus is on City whose defeat in this fixture last November was in the middle of a lousy run of form which ultimately ended their title defence and was also a spell from which they have still failed to regain their aura of invincibility.
As bizarre as it sounds so early on in the campaign, failure to win this game would place some extra pressure on Pep Guardiola as he faces the first rebuild of his managerial career – he left his previous two clubs, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, before such a task was necessary.
After an opening weekend salvo at Wolves, City suffered a day to forget at home to Spurs last weekend and they can hardly afford another setback.
One of their summer recruits, Rayan Ait-Nouri, was forced off early in that game but is set to return, while Guardiola will deliver updates on Josko Gvardiol, Savinho and Claudio Echeverri in his pre-match press conference.
While midfielder Mateo Kovacic remains sidelined, Phil Foden and Rodri are pushing to start after coming off the bench against the North Londoners.
It’s been many a year since City went into a new campaign not being spoken about as title favourites and they need to restore some belief if they are to mount a tangible challenge.
Brighton, who drew at home to Fulham in their opener, went down to defeat themselves last weekend as Everton made a winning start to life at their new home, although the Seagulls were themselves partly to blame for a sequence of missed chances.
They weren’t so profligate in midweek when they thumped Oxford 6-0 in the League Cup.
Forward Georginio Rutter missed that game and the Everton defeat but is expected to be available against City.
Definitely sidelined will be Solly March, Julio Enciso and Adam Webster who has been ruled out for a large part of the season after undergoing knee surgery.
Manager Fabian Hurzeler is expected to revert to his Premier League XI having rested a number of big names for the midweek cup tie.
When you look at the list of some of the players (Moises Caicedo, Ben White, Marc Cucurella, Leandro Trossard and Alexis Mac Allister amongst them), managers (Graham Potter, Roberto De Zerbi) and key staff (Dan Ashworth) who have left the club in recent years, you have to wonder just how Brighton have continued to maintain being so competitive.
This game could be one test for too many minds.
History
Since their very first meeting in the FA Cup back almost a century ago – February 1924 – City have always held the upper hand.
In total, they have enjoyed 21 victories and tasted defeat just seven times with a further six draws.
Yet one of those defeats came in the corresponding meeting last term when City led on the south coast via a Erling Haaland goal before two goals in five second half minutes through Joao Pedro and Matt O’Riley sparked jubilant scenes amongst the majority inside the American Express Stadium.
City may have only lost two of their last 17 meetings to Brighton but they weren’t able to win either game last term as the Seagulls twice came from behind to snatch a point on City territory.
On that occasion, goals from Haaland (penalty) and Omar Marmoush were cancelled out by Pervis Estupinan and an own goal in a 2-2 draw.
Their very first meeting in 1924 saw City emerge 5-1 winners in an FA Cup third round tie.
Betting Tip
City are tipped to bounce back with our Premier League 2025 betting odds.
You can back them in a variety of ways, including 1X2 @ 1.78 and Asian Handicap -0.75 @ 2.00.
The Seagulls will prove a stern test though and are on offer 1X2 @ 3.63 and Asian Handicap +0.50 @ 2.13.
A re-run of the second meeting last season will pay out @ 13.50 with Correct Score 2-2, while a draw is available at an appealing @ 3.63. Other attractive bets to catch SBOTOP’s roaming eye are Total Goal 2-3 @ 2.12 and Half Time Full Time Draw Away @ 5.10
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT)
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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