In the 21st round of the English Premier League, Manchester City will host Brighton in front of their fans. Although on paper the opponent appears to be one of the average teams, there's no such thing as an "easy game" in this match: if you lose points - the distance in the championship race immediately increases.
The new year has had a rather difficult start for the "citizens." In the first two matches of 2026, draws were recorded against "Sunderland" and "Chelsea," leaving the team without valuable points. Now, Guardiola's men will face Brighton with only one goal: victory.
Personnel shortage and high trust in Husanov
The biggest concern is the center of defense. Due to the serious injuries sustained by leading central defenders Yoshko Guardiol and Ruben Dias in the match against Chelsea, Guardiola believes Abduqodir Husanov and Nathan Ake will play from the first minutes in the match against Brighton. For Uzbek fans, the special "taste" of this match is here: Husanov is getting another chance to show himself on the big stage.
For Haaland, "either the series stops, or history is written"
Another name in this debate is Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker has such a "hard" statistic in the top division: he hasn't missed a single goal in four consecutive matches. The current goalless streak is three games. So, in the match against Brighton, either the unpleasant chain will break, or Haaland will face a new antirekord in his career. In short, the intrigue is ready for the fans.
Interesting facts: numbers also speak in this game
- Manchester City has never lost to Brighton at home in the league: 12 wins, 3 draws. This is one of the longest unbeaten series at home against a specific opponent in the club's history.
- Phil Foden is the most prolific goalscorer in the history of these clashes. He scored a total of 11 goals in head-to-head matches against Brighton.
- City finished the last two Premier League matches in a draw. In Pep Guardiola's coaching career, the league drew three consecutive times only twice: in April 2017 and December 2023.
- In August 2025, in a 2-1 win for Brighton, former City's James Milner scored from a penalty, becoming the oldest player to score an 11-yard goal in the Premier League: 39 years and 239 days.
- Manchester City has scored in all 17 Premier League appearances against Brighton. This is a 100% goal-scoring streak against the opponent (a similar result exists against Bournemouth).
- City have won 31 of their last 33 Premier League games on Wednesday (1 draw, 1 loss). At home, he won all of his last 22 games played on Wednesday - a very long home streak on a specific day of the week in league history.
When and at what time?
The Manchester City vs. Brighton match kicks off at 00:30 Tashkent time on the night of January 7th to 8th.
The conclusion is brief: tonight is not a simple game. On one side - City, which no longer has the right to lose points, on the other - Brighton, which loves to be "crushing" the favorites. And of course, there is another separate line for us: Abdukodir Khusanov's big exam.
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