Man City 1-1 Brighton: Five key talking points as Pep Guardiola suffers another Premier League title blow

Manchester City were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at home against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

Erling Haaland scored his 150th goal for the Citizens and the 35,000th Premier League goal when he converted from the penalty spot just four minutes before the half-time interval.

However, Kaoru Mitoma restored parity for the Seagulls on the hour mark with a clinical finish into the bottom corner and Man City were left to rue a plethora of missed opportunities in the closing stages.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at five key talking points from what was a frustrating night for Pep Guardiola’s side against Brighton.

Man City must rely on Arsenal slipping up to win title

Man City concluded 2025 with eight straight wins in all competitions, but they have not made an ideal start to the New Year, as they have drawn each of their first three matches in the Premier League - in Guardiola’s managerial career, only in April 2017 and December 2023 has he ever drawn three consecutive league games.

Six points dropped across those three fixtures could prove to be costly for the Citizens, who now sit five points behind leaders and fierce title rivals Arsenal, who could climb eight points clear at the summit with a victory over Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.

With 17 Premier League games still remaining, it is worth noting that there could still be plenty of twists and turns before the season comes to a close, but Arsenal are undoubtedly the favourites to lift this year’s trophy and City must now rely on the Gunners faltering at some stage if they are to topple the leaders.

With injuries mounting and form dipping, Man City must find a way to regroup and rediscover their prolific form in attack; just four of their 20 shots against Brighton were registered on target and the overriding feeling of frustration coming away from Wednesday’s draw was largely down to their final-third troubles.

Injuries threaten to derail Man City’s season

Man City are currently down to their bare bones as they were without eight first-team players for their clash against Brighton, with six of those sidelined through injury.

Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias were both forced off in Man City’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea last weekend and while the former is in danger of missing the rest of the season with a tibial fracture, the latter is facing four to six weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring problem.

Mateo Kovacic (heel) and John Stones (thigh) remain long-term absentees, while Oscar Bobb - who has been linked with a move away from the Etihad this month - has missed the last five matches with a thigh injury.

Savinho was another player who missed the draw with Brighton and Guardiola revealed after the match that the Brazilian winger could be ruled out for a "month and a half, two months" with an unspecified problem, although he does expect him to return before the end of the season.

In addition, City continue to monitor the fitness of star lynchpin Rodri, who has recently recovered from a lengthy spell out with a hamstring injury, while Nathan Ake’s fitness remains a concern and Nico O’Reilly is one of many players beginning to show signs of fatigue after an extended spell in Guardiola’s team.

Brighton are becoming a bogey team for Man City

Brighton may have never celebrated victory at the Etihad in 16 attempts, but they have accumulated eight points across their last four meetings with Man City in the Premier League (W2 D2).

The Seagulls’ 1-1 draw with City on Wednesday comes almost a year after they held the Citizens to a 2-2 draw at the Etihad last season when they came from behind twice to rescue a point.

Earlier this season, Brighton came from behind to beat Man City 2-1 at the Amex Stadium, courtesy of an 89th-minute winner from Brajan Gruda, while they also claimed victory by the same scoreline on home soil in November 2024.

Brighton are currently enjoying their longest unbeaten run against Man City and head coach Fabian Hurzeler has seemingly found the right formula to collect points from Guardiola, as he is yet to suffer defeat against the legendary Catalan coach since taking the reins of the Seagulls.

Alleyne makes notable impression on Man City debut

Max Alleyne has experienced a memorable start to 2026, as he was handed is senior Man City debut against Brighton just 48 hours after he was recalled from his loan spell at Championship side Watford.

In the absence of injured duo Gvardiol and Dias, the 20-year-old was thrown straight into Guardiola’s starting lineup and partnered Abdukodir Khusanov at centre-back, while experienced defender Ake slotted in at left-back at the expense of O’Reilly.

At no point did Alleyne look out of his depth at the heart of City's backline. In the first half alone, he won more duels (five) and completing more take-ons (three) than any other Man City player while also boasting a 94.9% passing accuracy.

Alleyne finished the match with six ground duels won, six accurate long balls, six passes into the final third, three tackles, three recoveries, three clearances, three interceptions and three aerial duels won.

“Max, yesterday first training session... I'm grateful and say thank you to Watford because they helped him a lot to grow up as a footballer,” Guardiola said at his post-match press conference.

“He was a little bit defensively an issue, but today all the long balls they won he's so fast in transition. On the ball he's really, really exceptional. He missed one ball, the rest was TOP! Really, really, really top... He will have many [victories] in the future!"

Brighton remain firmly in contention for European qualification

Brighton did not end 2025 on a positive note, failing to win any of their final six matches, but four points picked up from their last two league games at the start of this year will have lifted their spirits and keeps them in contention to secure European qualification this season.

The Seagulls have collected 29 points in total from 21 Premier League fixtures, and although they sit 11th in the table, they are only five points behind the top four, four points behind Brentford in fifth and three points behind Newcastle and Man United in sixth and seventh respectively.

Hurzeler’s side will back themselves to claim more points in the coming weeks, with games against Bournemouth, Fulham, Everton, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Brentford and Nottingham Forest on the horizon, and if a positive run of form is built up in that time, then hopes of securing at least a Conference League spot for next season will certainly increase.