Man City know Brighton have already made impact on title race vs Liverpool

As the title race heats up, Manchester City head into their final seven games of the season needing to maintain their winning streak to keep Liverpool at bay.

Following their last league match, a 2-2 draw between the two clubs last week, the clubs know that there is no room for error in the relentless schedule as final stretch of the race approaches. City’s next hurdle in their quest for a fourth Premier League title in five years is Brighton at the Etihad Stadium tonight (Wednesday).

Brighton, who currently sit in 10th place, represent a unique challenge for Pep Guardiola’s side. The Seagulls are a side who play a style of football not too dissimilar to that of City’s, with a possession based approach often employed by manager Graham Potter.

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The south coast club’s expected goal rate is also cause for worry as it highlights just how forward-thinking they are. Although scoring a healthy 29 goals in the league, the statistics show this could have potentially been far higher with an expected goals of 42.3 (xG) for the season.

Brighton’s dangerous attack has been on show especially recently with massive wins against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in their previous two Premier League fixtures, blowing the top four race wide open.

Liverpool, having beaten Manchester United 4-0 on Tuesday, will hope to see a slip up from City on Wednesday and with some good reason, given that Brighton have proved themselves capable of upsetting the Citizens in recent years. Last season the Premier league champions fell victim to a staggering 3-2 loss at the Amex Stadium in May.

Although that defeat could be attributed to an early red card for Joao Cancelo in the