EPL 2017/18: Brighton & Hove Albion 0-2 Manchester City, 5 talking points

In Saturday’s evening kick-off, Brighton & Hove Albion made their return to the Premier League by welcoming title favourites Manchester City to the Amex Stadium. Eager to start the season in the right fashion, Manchester City went all guns-blazing with the hope of sending out an emphatic statement. What followed was a fascinating game of cat and mouse as two contrasting styles went head to head.

A cool Sergio Agüero finish broke the deadlock in the 68th minute, as he latched onto a David Silva pass in the box. City doubled their lead 5 minutes later when Lewis Dunk headed the ball into his own net. The game was deemed finished from then on and Pep used the remaining time to give a league debut to big money signing Bernardo Silva.

The win allows Manchester City to set the pace in what’s going to be a marathon title race. For Brighton, the game showed them the harsh realities of the Premier League and what a tall order they’re about to face.

Here are the 5 biggest talking points from the game.

#5 Kyle Walker suits Manchester City

Kyle Walker achieved a rate of 92% pass completion

Kyle Walker seems to be exactly what the doctor ordered. The Englishman provided everything Pep Guardiola demanded of him; width, pace, incision and aggression. The 27-year old translated his attacking prowess from White Hart Lane straight to the City starting XI.

As the right wing-back in a 3-1-4-2, Kyle Walker was granted attacking freedom down the right flank as he regularly found himself in the final third. The Englishman presented himself as an ever-present option for David Silva to help stretch the Brighton back four.

#4 Brighton’s low-block is solid

Brighton made 40 clearances, 12 interceptions and successfully completed 65% of their tackles

At the end of the day, it was only an Agüero strike and an own goal that put Brighton to bed, two things that could happen to any team on any given day. For the majority of the match, Manchester City’s expensive attackers struggled to find a way to get through Chris Hughton’s men. Let’s put this into perspective.

Manchester City spent £216.45m this summer, they’re a team worth £553million, while Brighton are worth just a tenth of that. However, that gulf in wealth didn’t stop Brighton from keeping City out for over an hour as well as nearly scoring themselves.

On a different day, Albion could have left their ground with a share of the points, instead, they now understand what the best attack in the league feels like.

#3 Either Sterling or Sane should have started

Manchester City dominated 77.7% of possession

Pep Guardiola prides himself in being a tactical innovator, a man that analyses his opponents in microscopic fashion. Regardless of the opponent, he always tinkers his team in order achieve maximum efficiency. In the opening game of the season, Pep believed playing a right-footed Danilo as left wing-back would help City offensively, it didn’t.

The Brazilian looked uncomfortable and a step behind the rest of the team. Seeing as Manchester City spent the whole game in Brighton’s half, Leroy Sané or Raheem Sterling could have inflicted much more damage down that flank.

It was blatantly obvious that after Sané came on in the 68th minute, City found a new element of dynamism, leading to a breakthrough goal. The German offered more in 1v1s, tight spaces and was more of a threat with crosses.

#2 Brighton will struggle without pace

Brighton’s 25-man squad has an average of 26

The Premier League is the quickest and most physical league in the world, and it requires peak levels of fitness. Brighton & Hove Albion’s industrious style of play won’t cut it in the Premier League without adaptation.

Chris Hughton’s men don’t particularly excel in any physical trait, not pace, nor strength or height. In order to make them a threat, Brighton must adopt an identity that they can work on throughout the season. The Brighton squad is already one of the oldest in the Premier League, with a significant share of the team being above the age of 29.

Izzy Brown bucks that trend as the 20-year old represents a breath of fresh air in the Brighton set up. Unfortunately, the Chelsea loanee limped off in the 24th minute with what seemed like a hamstring injury. The youngster is skillful, agile and technically sound and he’s Brighton’s only hope of survival.

#1 Agüero and Jesus have good chemistry as a front two

Sergio Agüero has scored 100 league goals over the past 5 seasons

Prior to the season, many were wondering whether the Argentinean would be playing second fiddle to Jesus again but the boss has found a way for both of them to start and be effective. Before the game, we all knew that for this partnership to work, one of the two had to alter their movement patterns.

Jesus did just that. The Brazilian spent a lot of the game making runs on the outside of the two centre-backs, trying to drag them out wide to make space for Sergio Agüero in the middle. The two South Americans knew exactly where each other were and adjusted their movements accordingly. As a result, City looked fluid in attack and Sergio Agüero was able to score a landmark goal.