The Premier League season hits the third match as the Blues head to the south coast to face Brighton and Hove Albion. The match is the last before the international break and City will want to secure the three points before they face United and Arsenal in September.
City have won one and drawn one and are currently unbeaten in five away matches without conceding a goal, but face a Brighton side who are also five matches unbeaten at home, and it will be a test of will, strength and character on Sunday afternoon.
The Blues will be confident of securing the three points, given Brighton’s sluggish start to the season, but the home side will equally be confident after watching a masterclass in defending by Spurs last weekend.
As usual, our team are here to give us their thoughts, views and predictions on how the match will go. Here’s what we think this week.
Saul
Tricky away match. One has to back City given the loss last time out. Need a response and winning away here would be great.
Brighton 1-2 City
Will
In the first two games of the season, we’ve seen the best and the worst of the Blues.
I predict something in the middle. A comfortable enough win for a City side who will be keen to bounce back after Spurs, but far away from the dominance against Wolves.
Brighton 0-2 City
Thomas
Last season’s issues came to the fore once more, or was it just a Spursy game? City have appeared to dodge a bullet with the Rayan Ait-Nouri injury scare. A trip to the AmEx this weekend, and Brighton are off to a slow start. Time for the Boys in Blue to stamp out the smoldering ashes of last season’s back-line fire.
BHA 0-2 City
Pete
I never thought I’d hear myself saying this in the Pep Guardiola era, but I’m wondering which City side will turn up on Sunday – the team that will blow everyone away or the team that can’t hit a cow on the arse with a shovel (not that anyone would want to do that to a cow). City will still be smarting after last week’s defeat and they know that, after the international break, things will start getting difficult and three points on Sunday are essential.
Brighton 1-3 City
What happened against Spurs?
I think the term clusterf*** is appropriate for last week’s defeat. The Blues did press but struggled to find a way past a resolute Spurs defence, and that resulted in none of our guys getting it completely wrong. Will and Saul were very optimistic with a 4-1 City win, while Thomas, our reigning champion, went for 3-1, so at least he got the right goal difference.
Pete’s wait for a spot on prediction continues, but he did get closer with a 2-1 prediction last week. One day…one day.
Here’s the table:
