Manchester City play away from home in the league for the penultimate time this season when they face Brighton and Hove Albion today.
Julian Alvarez's goal secured a 1-0 win over Chelsea in City's last outing, but following Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest, Pep Guardiola’s side were already league champions prior to kick-off. If City are able to win their last two games of the season, they will beat their points tally from last season by one point.
With the league wrapped up and their Champions League and FA Cup finals coming up, Guardiola may rotate again to make sure his side are fully fit as they attempt to win the treble. The last meeting between City and Brighton ended in a 3-1 win, with Erling Haaland scoring twice.
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So, can City make it 13 league wins in a row? We simulated the clash to find out. To complete this simulation, we used FIFA 23 and updated the squads with the latest injuries and suspensions.
We predict that Brighton could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Steele; Gross, Dunk, Colwill, Estupinan; Caicedo, Gilmour; Enciso, Mac Allister, Mitoma; Ferguson.
We predict that City could line up in a 3-2-4-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Ortega; Stones, Laporte, Akanji; Lewis, Rodri; Mahrez, Alvarez, Silva, Foden; Haaland.
An aggressive start from Brighton saw the Seagulls take the lead, with Kaoru Mitoma's fantastic cross headed home by Evan Ferguson at the back post. After going behind, City took control, and two goals either side of half-time made it 2-1 to the visitors.
Just before the break, Bernardo Silva levelled the score when Erling Haaland's strike was parried into his path, allowing the midfielder to tap into an empty net. Jack Grealish replaced the injured Alvarez at half-time, and the Englishman made an instant impact as he turned Phil Foden's cross into the net with a delicate finish in the 51st minute.
Grealish struck the post moments later before Haaland had an effort tipped onto the bar, with City catching Brighton out at the back multiple times. The pressure continued, and Haaland eventually got on the scoresheet with 16 minutes to go.
Foden was starring on the left for City, and some intricate footwork saw the Englishman skip past two challenges to break into the Brighton box. Foden pulled the ball back for Haaland who found space and the Norwegian placed his strike into the roof of the net to make it 3-1.
A handful of changes saw City take their foot off the gas in the final stages of the game, and this worked in Brighton's favour as Alexis Mac Allister, Mitoma and Lewis Dunk all came close to finding the net. But City caught the hosts on the back foot once again in the closing stages, and Silva grabbed his second of the game to confirm the three points.
After winning the ball back on the edge of the City box, Silva sprayed a pass out to Cole Palmer on the left and continued his run forward. The midfielder wasn't tracked as he latched onto Palmer's long ball, and through on goal, Silva fired into the bottom corner to top off a fantastic evening.
FIFA 23 predicted score: Brighton 1-4 Man City
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 23 predicts that City could make it 13 wins on the bounce, beating Brighton 4-1 in the simulation. Despite looking dangerous in attack, the Seagulls were extremely open at the back, with their defensive vulnerability playing into City's hands as they ran riot on the south coast.
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