Match Preview: Brighton v Manchester City, FA Cup Semi Final
Brighton will take to the Wembley pitch in the semi finals of the FA Cup with only Manchester City standing between them and a place in the final of the world’s most famous knockout competition.
There’s an opening paragraph we never thought we’d write. 10 seasons ago, the WeAreBrighton.com Ford Fiesta trundled its way on a 650 mile round trip to Hartlepool on a Tuesday night for an FA Cup First Round replay. There were just over 100 Albion supporters there and, needless to say, we lost.
If you had suggested on that freezing cold, demoralising evening at Victoria Park that a decade later we’d be in the last four of the competition and about to take on one of the finest sides English football has ever seen, led by the one of the greatest managers who has ever lived with 34,000 Brighton fans in attendance, then you’d have been locked up. Or asked to share the industrial strength glue you had been sniffing.
Yet here we are. Having made only two FA Cup semi finals in 118 years, the law of averages suggests that it could be 2078 by the time the Seagulls soar into the last four of this competition again. No matter what happens, make sure you enjoy it.
Who are Manchester City?
Before 2008, Manchester City were a football club like any other. They enjoyed some high points like winning two English titles and four FA Cups and some low points like being relegated into the third tier and facing local derbies with Macclesfield Town. That all changed when they brought by the Abu Dhabi United Group, becoming the richest club in the world overnight and with the power to spend lavish sums on some of the best players in the world. Since the injection of all that Middle Eastern money, City have won eight major domestic trophies and become of the biggest clubs in the country.
What are they like now?
City snared Pep Guardiola from Bayern Munich in 2016 and they haven’t looked back. They won the Premier League last season smashing every single record going and this year could rewrite the history books further. They could yet win four competitions, which would make them the first English side ever to complete the quadruple whilst adding the league title and the FA Cup to the League Cup which is already in the Etihad Stadium trophy cabinet would make them the first club to do a domestic treble. Crystal Palace of all teams have proven that City can on occasions be human by winning in Manchester this season and had the FA allowed VAR to be used at the Liberty Stadium in the quarter final then the Albion could quite feasibly have been facing Swansea City at Wembley instead. Essentially, for Brighton to get something out of the game it will take us to play at our very best and City to have an off day. Stranger things have happened though, like when David Icke said on live television he believed he was the son of God.
Which players should we be worried about?
Claudio Bravo, Kyle Walker, Danilo, Vincent Kompany, John Stones, Raheem Sterling, İlkay Gündoğan, Sergio Agüero, Aymeric Laporte, Eliaquim Mangala, Kevin De Bruyne, Fabian Delph, Leroy Sané, Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Benjamin Mendy, Fernandinho, Riyad Mahrez, Nicolás Otamendi, Ederson, Gabriel Jesus, Philippe Sandler, Oleksandr Zinchenkoand Phil Foden. Other than that, they haven’t got much.
What’s the Albion’s record like against Manchester City?
City dominate the head-to-head with Brighton with 11 wins to the Albion’s four with five draws rounding off the 20 fixtures. If you are desperately looking for some sort of straw to clutch ahead of the trip to Wembley, then how about this – last time we met in the FA Cup, Brighton ended up winning 4-0 City sacked their manage and we went onto reach the final. Don’t say we didn’t win you, Mr Guardiola.
What’s the best WeAreBrighton.com memory of playing Manchester City?
Here’s another omen for you – last time we played City in a cup game it was following an abject 1-0 home defeat and we went on to pull off an almighty shock by beating them on penalties. That was in the second round of the League Cup in 2008 when, four days after managing to lose 1-0 at home to nine-man Walsall, the Albion knocked out the newly-minted richest club in the world. Despite the thrill of what happened on the pitch that night, the best bit of the evening was still a fan joining the pitch invasion in an electric wheelchair, only to be turned around and wheeled off the pitch by a mean-spirited steward.
What’s the worst WeAreBrighton.com memory of playing Manchester City?
Last season’s 3-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium was pretty grim. The football wasn’t great for a start but the real problems began on the journey home, when the WeAreBrighton.com team were denied travel on the overnight National Express coach back to London for being too drunk. That meant a night sleeping in Manchester bus station before catching the first bus home in the morning. With hindsight, getting overexcited about the presence of Strongbow Dark Fruits in the concourse at half time and nailing three pints of it in 15 minutes wasn’t the most sensible decision we’ve ever taken.
Who’s played for both sides?
Gus Poyet loaned two players from Manchester City in 2012 which provided an important lesson in why you should never get too excited about players with nicknames as they are invariably turn out to be crap. Abdul Razak arrived as “the next Yaya Toure” based presumably on the fact that he was Ivorian and went mad if nobody celebrated his birthday. He certainly wasn’t a patch on Toure on the pitch as, bar one admittedly fantastic performance at home to Ipswich Town, he did bugger all. Gai Assulin was arguably even worse. “The Israeli Messi” was a nickname that, actually, I can’t even be bothered to dedicate my time to ridiculing it. It was just shocking.
Other than football, what is Manchester known for?
Manchester is one of the best cities in the United Kingdom in our book. Ironically, it was the IRA trying to blow the place up that led to significant regeneration and turned it from a struggling former industrial town to a place packed with great nightlife, fantastic pubs, a wonderful shopping area and a brilliant vibe. It’s also home to Coronation Street and one of the country’s more successful serial killers, Harold Shipman. So there’s something there for everyone, really.
Where’s the betting value for Brighton v Manchester City?
Brighton are 25/1 to beat Manchester City, an astonishing price for a game involving two teams from the same division but one that illustrates the fact that most people don’t think we have a prayer. A more interesting bet is the winning margin market. Brighton have lost all three of their Premier League meetings with City so far by two goals as, while we aren’t going to try and attack, we’re defensively good enough to prevent it turning into a massacre. You can back the Citizens to win by two at a best priced 3/1.
Prediction?
A 2-0 win for a Manchester City who don’t really need to get out of second gear. We’re defeated but not disgraced and we can all get back to having kittens about how bad our league form in 2019 is.
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