"Twice in a week, Olé, Olé" - Can Brighton Do the Unthinkable and Beat City Twice In Four Days?

With two and a half months of Brighton’s season already gone by, games are now coming thick and fast for the Albion. Fatigue and injuries are already creeping in, and Brighton’s incredible form has ended abruptly. Though, the Seagulls must keep looking forward – and two trips to the Etihad inside four days has me questioning; could we do the impossible?

Brighton have seemingly lost some of their goalscoring touch from earlier this season. No goals in two games and some costly misses have been unlucky, but two visits to one of the best clubs in England may stretch that run further.

As previously mentioned, Brighton’s momentum has been disrupted in the last two games. A disappointing trip to Jablonec was followed up by an unfortunate loss at the hands of Liverpool, bringing Albion fans back down to earth from the unbelievable highs from the start of the month.

This will surely be put down to fatigue. Brighton have played roughly the same team every game this season, only changing players due to injury or suspension. The sheer distance the players have had to travel will make a difference too, being in the middle of five away games in a row.

I would also argue the odds are heavily stacked against Brighton too. City are top of the league, only dropping points for the first time last weekend against Aston Villa. It will be a much more fit City side too, only missing Matheus Nunes and Antoine Semenyo. Brighton are still without countless key players, most recently losing full back Ferdi Kadioglu this weekend.

However, Brighton will be motivated to bounce back. An extremely tough visit to the defending Carabao Cup champions may be what the team needs to prove they’re capable of winning silverware this season.

Fabian Hurzeler will be determined to continue his superb run over Manchester City. As a manager, Hurzeler has never lost against the Citizens – earning two wins and two draws over the Manchester outfit.

Furthermore, Hurzeler has some history with new City manager Enzo Maresca. In February 2025, Maresca refused to call Hurzeler a “top manager”, later going on to say “It’s not that I’m not impressed. First of all, I think the previous manager [De Zerbi] is a top manager… and that’s it, yeah.”.

Since that moment, Hurzeler hasn’t lost to a team managed by Maresca either. This could be a huge source of motivation for Hurzeler personally, and he will undoubtably want his players to reflect that on the pitch.

Brighton have been in a situation very similar to this. In the 2024/25 season, Brighton would beat Chelsea twice in six days. The Albion faithful will be itching to sing “twice in a week, Olé, Olé” once more, like they did 18 months ago.

In short, the chances of Brighton being able to beat one of the best teams in the world twice in four days are remarkably slim. Though, the mentality and togetherness of the Brighton squad is second to none – and could definitely escape the Etihad with at least one victory by the end of the week.