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Brighton & Hove Albion: Steele, Veltman, van Hecke, Dunk, Barco, Gross, Baleba, Lallana, Moder, Joao Pedro, Welbeck.
Subs: Verbruggen, Igor, Webster, Enciso, Adingra, Fati, Buonanotte, Offiah, O’Mahony.
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Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Rodri, Kovacic, Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, Foden, Alvarez.
Subs: Dias, Stones, Grealish, Doku, Ortega, Gomez, Matheus Luiz, Bobb, Lewis.
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Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia).
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TEAM NEWS! 🚨 Here's our starting XI to face @ManCity in the @PremierLeague. 👀📝
📲 https://t.co/S3j1TIedJv // #BHAFC 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/fbS6ZACOin
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) April 25, 2024
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Your City team to face Brighton! 🩵
XI | Ederson, Walker (C), Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Rodrigo, Kovacic, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden, Alvarez
SUBS | Ortega, Dias, Stones, Grealish, Doku, Gomez, Nunes, Bobb, Lewis#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/PJGsBKmbHv
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 25, 2024
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… and then there were two. OK, it’s true that Liverpool aren’t officially out of the title race yet, but … c’mon.
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| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 34 | 56 | 77 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 34 | 41 | 74 |
| 3 | Man City | 32 | 44 | 73 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 34 | 21 | 66 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 32 | 16 | 60 |
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Manchester City are still very much in it, though, their destiny in their own hands. But Arsenal have points on the board, a bumper goal difference and the wind behind, so if the champions are going to win a record-breaking fourth title in a row, City really can’t afford any slip-ups as they hit the final turn. You’d expect them to get the job done tonight, given they’ve beaten Brighton 11 times in the last 13 meetings … but the other two matches were a 1-1 draw and a 3-2 defeat at the Amex, and those came in two of their last three visits. So nothing’s certain, especially not at the Business End when the nerves start to jangle. Arsenal fans (and overly optimistic Liverpool ones) are all Seagulls tonight. Kick-off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
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Key events
City get the ball rolling. Watching in the stand, having been introduced on the pitch a few minutes ago, Brighton fan Russ Cook. Last weekend Cook ran the London Marathon in the immediate wake of completing a 9,940-mile run along the entire length of Africa. A gentle warm-down, apparently.
The teams are out! Brighton in their “classic Albion blue and white stripes”, Manchester City in a third-choice back-and-blue “electric spark pattern powered by the team’s lightning fast style of play and the atmosphere it creates between the fans, players and staff”. Puma putting a bit more effort into their press release there than Nike. We’ll be off after a quick blast of Sussex by the Sea.
Roberto De Zerbi speaks to Sky. “We have to play well … we have to make points … we are fighting to reach another season in European position and it is not finished yet for us … Pep is the best coach … it is very tough playing against City and Pep … we are Brighton … we play with courage … we try to play a good game … it has been a very tough season … especially from January it is difficult to choose the first 11 … we have the quality enough to play well to fight for ourselves, for our fans and our club.”
Pep talks to Sky. “Madrid and Chelsea were really tough … we had two days rest … step by step, we had to be ready … it is important to be ready and fresh … the challenge is to win the next game … we have won a lot of titles in the Premier League because we were thinking just of the next game … to think further away from that is a big mistake … [Roberto De Zerbi] is brave … he will impose his game … they are just exceptional for so many reasons … his teams are so attractive … even with injuries the way he plays is recognisable … I like to watch it … I am hoping they suffer a little bit!”
Brighton make three changes to the side that drew 1-1 at Burnley 12 days ago. Adam Lallana, Valentin Barco and goalkeeper Jason Steele are in; Simon Adingra and Bart Verbruggen drop to the bench, while Pervis Estupinan is injured, his season done.
Manchester City are still without the injured Erling Haaland. They also make a change in goal, in the wake of their 1-0 FA Cup semi-final victory over Chelsea: Ederson comes in for Stefan Ortega. Elsewhere, Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol replace the benched John Stones and Jack Grealish.
The teams
Brighton & Hove Albion: Steele, Veltman, van Hecke, Dunk, Barco, Gross, Baleba, Lallana, Moder, Joao Pedro, Welbeck.
Subs: Verbruggen, Igor, Webster, Enciso, Adingra, Fati, Buonanotte, Offiah, O’Mahony.
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Rodri, Kovacic, Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, Foden, Alvarez.
Subs: Dias, Stones, Grealish, Doku, Ortega, Gomez, Matheus Luiz, Bobb, Lewis.
Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia).
TEAM NEWS! 🚨 Here's our starting XI to face @ManCity in the @PremierLeague. 👀📝
📲 https://t.co/S3j1TIedJv // #BHAFC 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/fbS6ZACOin
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) April 25, 2024
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Your City team to face Brighton! 🩵
XI | Ederson, Walker (C), Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Rodrigo, Kovacic, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden, Alvarez
SUBS | Ortega, Dias, Stones, Grealish, Doku, Gomez, Nunes, Bobb, Lewis#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/PJGsBKmbHv
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 25, 2024
"}}” config=”{"renderingTarget":"Web","darkModeAvailable":false}”>
Your City team to face Brighton! 🩵
XI | Ederson, Walker (C), Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Rodrigo, Kovacic, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden, Alvarez
SUBS | Ortega, Dias, Stones, Grealish, Doku, Gomez, Nunes, Bobb, Lewis#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/PJGsBKmbHv
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 25, 2024
Preamble
… and then there were two. OK, it’s true that Liverpool aren’t officially out of the title race yet, but … c’mon.
Manchester City are still very much in it, though, their destiny in their own hands. But Arsenal have points on the board, a bumper goal difference and the wind behind, so if the champions are going to win a record-breaking fourth title in a row, City really can’t afford any slip-ups as they hit the final turn. You’d expect them to get the job done tonight, given they’ve beaten Brighton 11 times in the last 13 meetings … but the other two matches were a 1-1 draw and a 3-2 defeat at the Amex, and those came in two of their last three visits. So nothing’s certain, especially not at the Business End when the nerves start to jangle. Arsenal fans (and overly optimistic Liverpool ones) are all Seagulls tonight. Kick-off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!