Brighton Brighton and Hove Albion

Man City Manchester City

WHEN AND WHERE

Our opening game of 2022 takes place at the The People’s Pension Stadium, Crawley on Sunday 9 January with kick-off scheduled for 12:00 (UK).

The game will be broadcast live on the BBC Red Button, while fans around the world can check out which broadcasters are showing the game via LiveSoccerTV‘s list below:

We’ll also have coverage of the game via our Matchday Centre and on Twitter @ManCityWomen. Following the full-time whistle, a comprehensive match report and post-match reaction from Gareth Taylor, while match highlights will be available to view on mancity.com and our official app from noon the following day.

A full-match replay will also be available to view with a CITY+ subscription.

Tickets

Tickets are available to purchase via Brighton’s official website, priced as follows:

Seated areas:
Adult: £7.00
Seniors (65+) / Under 18: £3.50

Standing areas:
Adult: £6.00
Seniors (65+) / Under 18: £3.00

Family ticket (2 Adults + 2 Under 18s): £15.00

TEAM NEWS

Gareth Taylor makes three changes to the side who snatched a dramatic win over Birmingham last time out.

Ruby Mace, Filippa Angeldahl and Caroline Weir make way for Demi Stokes, Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh, who all make welcome returns - Bronze earning her first minutes of the 2021/22 campaign.

Captain Steph Houghton is also named on the bench - available for the first time since September!

Goalkeeper Karima Taieb is shielded by a backline of Demi Stokes, Alex Greenwood, Alanna Kennedy and Bronze, with Walsh protecting the back four in defensive midfield.

Laura Coombs and Georgia Stanway occupy midfield, flanked by Lauren Hemp and Hayley Raso, with Ellen White leading the line upfront.

Featuring Houghton, Jill Scott, Vicky Losada, Angeldahl and Janine Beckie, there’s plenty of quality and experience amongst the substitutes, as well as youngsters Khiara Keating, Ruby Mace and Jess Park.

Caroline Weir and Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw are unavailable for selection.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the boss also provided a fitness update on Esme Morgan (leg fracture), Ellie Roebuck (calf), Karen Bardsley (hamstring) and Chloe Kelly (ACL) as they continue their recovery from long-term injuries, declaring the quartet are progressing well.

Gareth Taylor on Brighton

“They’ve made changes and even changes in this window, They’ve been able to bring players in from Sweden. There’s progression at Brighton.

“They have invested in their training facility. There’s a big financial push from the club and they want to push to the next level, which is probably European football.

“When you have that, it makes the league more exciting. We’ve already seen that.

“For us, it’s about making sure we never underestimate opposition. When we get things right, we will be comfortable, when we don’t things are more difficult. To expect to be at 80% and beat Brighton is unrealistic.

“We need to be at our best and clued up on details to stand the best chance.”

WATCH: Taylor: Hemp can reach the top

LAST TIME OUT

A late Ellen White strike saw City snatch a thrilling and deserved 3-2 victory away to Birmingham in our last outing.

The England forward hooked home Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw’s cutback to earn Gareth Taylor‘s side maximum points at St Andrew’s.

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City twice had to come from behind, with Georgia Stanway‘s stunning long-range effort and Lauren Hemp‘s powerful header cancelling out Christie Murray and Louise Quinn goals in an entertaining first half.

But we made our pressure count late on, with White coming back to haunt her former club in dramatic fashion and move us to within four points of the Champions League places.

WATCH: FA WSL highlights: Birmingham 2-3 City

PREVIOUS ENCOUNTER

City stormed to a record-breaking FA Women’s Super League win over Brighton in January, cruising to our biggest away league win on the day of our seven-year anniversary as a professional outfit.

Steph Houghton starred on the south coast, netting in either half of her 150th league appearance, as she became the first player to reach the coveted feat.

On a memorable afternoon at the American Express Elite Performance Centre, Caroline Weir also scored twice, while Ellen White, Chloe Kelly and Janine Beckie also wrote their names onto the scoresheet, as the visitors bagged seven for the second week in a row.

WATCH: Match highlights: Brighton 1-7 City

How it stands

City have the chance to leapfrog Brighton with a win with the Seagulls sitting one place above Taylor’s side in the table.

We have 13 points from our opening nine games, winning four, losing four and drawing one, while Brighton have 15 points, having won five and lost four.

FORM GUIDE

City have won three of our last four WSL matches, and four of our last six in all competitions. In that time, we’ve found the net on an impressive 16 occasions.

Brighton have lost their last four games in a row since defeating Leicester in injury time on 14 November, suffering a 3-0 reverse at West Ham United in the Continental Cup last time out.

We have won six of our seven meetings in all competitions, drawing the other 0-0, and have scored 5+ goals on four occasions, winning 7-1 twice.

Stats

● City are unbeaten in our five WSL games against Brighton (W4 D1) with an aggregate score of 21-1, having won four of our five league matches, scoring six, three, five and seven in our four wins, and conceding just once in reply. Only against Arsenal (5) have the Seagulls failed to score in more games in the competition.

● Of sides we have faced more than twice in the Women’s Super League, only vs Aston Villa (4.7) do we average more goals per game than against Brighton (4.2 – 21 goals in five encounters). The Seagulls’ ratio of conceding against us is higher than against any other opponent in the competition.

● Gareth Taylor‘s side have averaged 6.5 goals per away game against Brighton in the WSL - our best such ratio in away matches against a specific opponent in the competition.

● City haven’t lost our opening WSL match of a calendar year since 2014 (0-1 v Liverpool), winning four of our last seven such matches (D3).

● None of Brighton’s last 20 WSL matches have ended level, with the Seagulls winning 11 and losing nine of those games. They have however, lost each of their last two top-flight games without scoring, last suffering three consecutive defeats in December 2020.

● Jill Scott (99) is looking to become only the second player in WSL history to appear in 100 wins in the competition, after teammate and captain Steph Houghton (112).

● Lauren Hemp (10) has created more chances following a ball carry than any other player in the Women’s Super League this season, though none of those have ended in an assist for her Manchester City teammates. She has also registered 10 ball carries ending in an attempt at goal, making her the only player to manage both at least 10 times.

● Georgia Stanway has scored four goals in five WSL games against Brighton - only against Sunderland (6) and West Ham (5) has she scored more in the competition.

● Steph Houghton has been directly involved in four goals (3 goals, 1 assist) in her five WSL matches against Brighton - more than against any other opponent for City in the competition.