Manchester City vs Brighton & Hove Albion

Manchester City will be seeking a piece of history this weekend as they welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to the Etihad Stadium. The hosts are one win away from making it 21 consecutive home wins on home turf in all competitions, which would be an outright record for a Premier League side.

Pep Guardiola must have been relieved to hear the international break bells ringing after overseeing back-to-back Premier League defeats for only the second time during his trophy-laden managerial stint at Manchester City. Arsenal’s last-gasp 1-0 home win last time out condemned the ‘Citizens’ to their first scoring blank of the season, increasing the pressure on them ahead of this meeting. Keen to avoid becoming the first Man City manager to lose three consecutive Premier League games since Manuel Pellegrini in 2016, Guardiola can fall back on his side’s scintillating H2H record against Brighton in the Premier League era (W10, D1, L1). It’s even better in Manchester, with the perennial Premier League champions going unbeaten in all 13 home H2Hs in the 99-year history of this fixture (W11, D2).

Meanwhile, after losing on their last nine visits to Man City by an aggregate score of 24-3, Brighton’s bid to end a three-game winless streak in competitive away action looks fragile (D1, L2). However, Roberto De Zerbi’s team proved their top-flight credentials on the stroke of October’s international break by holding Liverpool to a 2-2 home draw, maintaining their reputation as ‘Premier League entertainers.’ Indeed, all eight of Brighton’s league matches this season have seen over 3.5 goals and both sides on the scoresheet, highlighting the potential for a high-scoring contest. Those eight games produced a league-high 37 goals in total! But it’s been a while since Brighton last registered a shutout in the Premier League, most recently achieving this feat in mid-May. Yet, they’ve been on the scoresheet in 23 consecutive top-flight outings in the build-up to this trip.