Manchester City take on Brighton and Hove Albion at the Etihad Stadium this evening knowing that only a win will take them back to the top of the Premier League table, but boss Pep Guardiola doesn’t appear to be feeling the pressure. 

Dominating English football’s top-flight over the last decade, City are chasing a fourth title in five seasons but are being pushed all the way by Liverpool, pretty much as it has been since 2018.

The Reds beat City’s neighbours Manchester United at Anfield 4-0 last night to leapfrog Guardiola’s side and are now ahead by two points. To state the obvious, with Liverpool unbeaten in the Premier League since December and looking unlikely to drop points, the Sky Blues just have to keep winning.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference yesterday morning ahead of tonight’s fixture, Guardiola was pleased with where his side are at.

“We’re going to play every game like a final and fight until the end. It’s amazing what we are doing knowing the situation that we have right now [injuries]and the problems that we’ve had for many parts of the season. It’s made me so satisfied.

“I’ll watch it [Liverpool vs Manchester United] as a football fan, but we need to do our job in this game [Brighton] and the next one and the next one after that.

“I’m fully focused on Brighton.”

Last weekend, Guardiola saw his side lose the FA Cup semi-final to Liverpool where a disastrous first half at Wembley saw them head in 3-0 down at the break. Goals from Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva pulled it back to 3-2, but the Citizens had left themselves with too much to do.

After the game, the City boss was criticised by some of his own supporters for his team selection with some going as far as saying that they’d admitted defeat when the two lineups were announced.

Guardiola added: “No, I don’t regret my selection. I understand the opinions from fans. They have all my respect and credit, but my selection is for many reasons.

“I spoke with the doctors and the physios and then made decisions. I have access to a lot of information that you [the media]don’t have.”

Brighton

In a stark contrast to City who are still fighting for the Champions League as well as the Premier League as we enter the closing stages of the season, Brighton are now simply playing for pride.

Between mid-February and early April, the Seagulls went through a rough spell of six straight defeats and one draw with just one goal in those seven outings with some suggestion that they could be sucked into the ongoing relegation battle at the bottom of the division.

Those thoughts have been well and truly squashed in recent weeks though with back-to-back away wins over both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

Graham Potter’s side became only the second ever side in Premier League history to win away from home against both North London teams in successive fixtures with Hull City the other in 2008/09.

Heading into their trip to the Etihad, Brighton sit 10^th on the ‘magic’ 40-point mark, 14 off the European spots and 15 off the relegation zone. A late surge isn’t impossible, though definitely improbable.

The Seagulls do however look set to achieve their best ever Premier League finish (15^th previously) and that will be their incentive for the remainder of the campaign.

Last Time Out

Earlier this season, City made light work of a trip to the South Coast, winning 4-1 at the AMEX Stadium.

Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden (2) saw the Sky Blues head in 3-0 to the good at the interval with Riyad Mahrez adding a fourth in the 95^th minute after Alexis Mac Allister had netted a consolation for the hosts from the penalty spot.

To put into context how good of a title race this is between City and Liverpool, that game came in the ninth gameweek this season when Guardiola’s side had lost one game and the Reds remained unbeaten.

Fast forward six months, the pair have played another 45 Premier League games between them, and lost just four (Liverpool two, City two).

Coverage 

With an 8:00pm kick-off at the Etihad Stadium, Prost International reporter Ben Olawumi will be in position to provide live coverage. You can follow him on Twitter – @OlawumiJourno

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