Analysis: Who will triumph in the battle of the league's best wingers?

Football writer Adrian Clarke identifies the key players, team tactics and where matches could be won and lost in Matchweek 29.

Match analysis: Man City v Brighton

With the race for UEFA Champions League qualification heating up nicely, Man City’s home match with Brighton has the feel of a hugely significant contest.

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Fabian Hurzeler’s side have won four matches in a row to take themselves a point off the champions.

The Seagulls are dangerous opponents, scoring in all but one away match and incentivised by the chance to claim a first Premier League "double" over City.

Having failed to score in two of their last three matches, City are also under pressure to deliver a big performance after dropping to fifth in the Premier League table.

Race For Europe

Position Pos	Club	Played Pl	GD	Points Pts
1	Liverpool LIV	29	+42	70
2	Arsenal ARS	28	+28	55
3	Nott'm Forest NFO	28	+12	51
4	Chelsea CHE	28	+17	49
5	Man City MCI	28	+15	47
6	Newcastle NEW	28	+9	47
7	Brighton BHA	28	+6	46

Full table

Let’s take a closer look at some of the key areas that could decide the outcome…

Will this match be won on the wing?

Four of the Premier League’s most exciting ball carriers will go head-to-head at the Etihad Stadium, which should help to make this an entertaining watch.

City's Jeremy Doku is the division’s most prolific dribbler, averaging 10.34 per 90 minutes, successfully completing 6.13 of them.

Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh and Savinho are also ranked in the Premier League’s top five players for dribbling, with Japan international Kaoru Mitoma among the leading lights too.

How the four wingers rank (per 90)

*PL rank among players with minimum 10 starts

Man City’s wingers have been criticised for a perceived lack of end product from those ball carries, but it is actually Doku who leads the way with three goals and three assists at the end of dribbles.

Savinho is yet to score from a ball carry but has provided five assists on the back of runs with the ball at his feet.

From carries for Brighton, Mitoma has two goals and two assists, while Minteh has one assist.

Here you can see where each winger does the most damage when travelling with the ball…

How their chance-creating carries compare

Is Savinho the pick of the bunch?

Savinho’s direct running from different angles makes him the least predictable of this talented quartet.

The 20-year-old has the best crossing accuracy (23.8 per cent), produces the most successful open-play crosses (0.9 per 90), and creates the greatest number of chances in open play (2.1 per 90).

His 0.6 big chances created per match are also ahead of Doku, Minteh and Mitoma.

Yet when it comes to current form, Brighton's twin wingers are the ones who have been supplying the most goals and assists.

Offering a goal threat City’s wing duo cannot match, they have scored a combined seven Premier League goals since the turn of the year.

Doku and Savinho only have one strike between them during this period.

PL goals and assists in 2025 compared

Mitoma and Minteh were on fire when they last visited Manchester, scoring and assisting for each other in a 3-1 win at Old Trafford in January.

When Danny Welbeck or Joao Pedro drop off the front, Brighton’s speedy wingers make quality runs beyond the last defender.

This was evident when Mitoma ran on to a long pass to tee up his opposite wide man in that match against Manchester United.

Watch: Mitoma's assist for Minteh v Man Utd

Minteh returned the favour when surging in behind before finding the Japanese star with a pinpoint far-post cross for Brighton’s second goal.

Watch: Minteh's assist for Mitoma v Man Utd

Pep Guardiola and Fabian Hurzeler both set up their sides in a way that encourages the wingers to hold their width and isolate full-backs in 1v1 situations.

All four wide men have great ability but in recent weeks it is the Brighton pair who have supplied better quality inside the final third.

Creative 'keepers

Both sides play out from the back by luring opponents onto them, so you can expect plenty of "cat and mouse" on Saturday afternoon.

When opponents commit too many players forward and set their defensive line a touch too high, they also have the ability to pick out runners with one single pass over the top.

Man City goalkeeper Ederson is the best in the business in this department, and the latest of his three assists this season came in the home match against Newcastle United when he picked out Omar Marmoush.

You can see below how wide City’s two wingers are, creating a 2v2 down the middle of the pitch, that became a 1v1 when Erling Haaland dragged his marker short.

Brighton's No 1 Bart Verbruggen also has excellent long-range distribution, as he showed when finding Mitoma with a phenomenal through-ball against Chelsea.

Again, see below how wide Brighton stretch the play in their positioning to create an area down the spine of the pitch that does not feature many players. 

Mitoma ran on and produced a sensational touch to score from the 1v1.

These two strikes are unerringly similar in their construction, and it will be fascinating to see if either team replicate this on Saturday.

Watch Mitoma's goal v Chelsea

Incidentally, five different goalkeepers have produced at least one assist this season. 

In an era where so many players in their position make short passes rather than going long, that is the highest number of assist-making 'keepers we have seen since 2010/11.

The last time it was bettered was in 2007/08, when seven goalkeepers had assists.

PL goalkeepers with assists in 2024/25

High-level pressing

These two sides are among the very best at winning the ball back in advanced areas.

City may not have been as effective as they have been in the past, but their pressing has still been good enough to force 253 high turnovers.

Over the course of the season though, it is Hurzeler’s men who have been marginally better at this aspect of the game. In their 2-1 home success against City, Brighton rocked the champions with a physical second-half display that disrupted their rhythm.

The question is, will Brighton be bold enough to press City at the Etihad?

If they are, and it comes off, it could be a decisive tactic.

Man City v Brighton pressing stats compared

The Savinho-Haaland combination

Man City’s results may have been mixed, but Haaland has still scored 10 goals in all competitions since Christmas.

So, containing his threat will remain Brighton’s main priority.

Stopping Savinho’s supply line into the Norwegian will be vital as five of his seven Premier League assists this season have been for Haaland.

Three of them were teasing crosses that Haaland converted with his head - at home to West Ham United and away against Arsenal and Leicester City, as pictured below.

Whenever Savinho is given time and space out wide he will aim for his towering centre forward at the far post.

Stifling that connection will be key to Brighton’s hopes of getting a positive result on Saturday.