Joao Pedro will be looking to break a new Premier League record for Brighton & Hove Albion when they travel to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.
The 23-year-old has established himself as an important first-team player for the Seagulls and is one of four players who has scored a team-high eight goals in all competitions this season along with Kaoru Mitoma, Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck.
Since suffering a painful 7-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest at the beginning of February, Brighton have won each of their last six games in all competitions, including each of their last four in the Premier League, and Pedro has played a key part in the club’s upturn in form.
Not only have Brighton advanced to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup courtesy of a 2-1 extra-time win over Newcastle, they have also celebrated impressive league victories over Chelsea (3-0), Southampton (4-0), Bournemouth (2-1) and Fulham (2-1), beating the latter last weekend.
Pedro has scored in each of his last three top-flight games for Brighton, including a 98th-minute winning penalty against Fulham last time out, and the versatile forward will etch his name into the Seagulls’ history books if he finds the net again this weekend.
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Pedro looking to create Brighton history in Man City clash
Indeed, should Pedro score against Man City, he will become the first Brighton player to net in four consecutive Premier League games, as well as just the second Brazilian player to score four in a row after Tottenham Hotspur’s Richarlison, who has done so twice in March 2021 and April 2024.
Pedro will back himself to make the net ripple on Saturday as he has already scored against Man City this season, netting in Brighton’s 2-1 comeback victory in the reverse fixture at the Amex Stadium just over fourth months ago.
Brighton as a club are looking to make history this weekend as they have never beaten Man City away from home in their entire history (L12 D2), losing each of their last 10 in a row.
Head coach Fabian Hurzeler has insisted that the priority for him is “not about chasing any records” and he wants to instil belief in everyone associated at the club ahead of facing “one of the best teams in the world”.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday about the possibility of winning for the first time at the Etihad, Hurzeler said: “For me it’s not about chasing any records. For me it’s chasing our own behaviour, chasing our own limits. That’s what we have to do tomorrow as well against City.
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Hurzeler: ‘I always have to believe in this club’
“Regarding City, they’re still one of the best teams in the world and Pep [Guardiola] is still one of the best managers in the world. For me it’s very important to go there with a big portion of humbleness. But also with a big belief in ourselves that we can beat every team in the league as we have proved this season. That’s what we try to prove tomorrow.”
Asked if his players have belief they can beat Man City, Hurzeler added: “I try to be a role model. So I always have to believe in my players, and I always have to believe in this club, the staff members and the employees who are really into this project here. That’s what I try to live every day.
“I have the biggest belief inside of myself that this team can achieve something because we have a great togetherness in the group. We have players with individual potential, and that helps give belief to the whole club.”
Brighton currently sit seventh in the Premier League table and they will leapfrog fifth-placed Man City, who sit just one point ahead of them, if they come out on top in what is an important contest for both clubs.
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