Phil Foden struck twice as Manchester City stepped up their bid for a fourth Premier League crown in a row with a ruthless 4-0 victory at Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday.

A day after Liverpool's title challenge suffered a huge blow with a 2-0 defeat at Everton, City kept up the pressure on leaders Arsenal with a dominant display that left them one point behind the London club with a game in hand.

Kevin De Bruyne's superb diving header put City, missing top scorer Erling Haaland due to injury, ahead in the 17th minute.

Foden scored his first -- and 50th league goal -- with a deflected free kick and Brighton defensive errors allowed Bernardo Silva to win the ball and set up Foden to sweep a shot into the bottom corner before halftime.

Julian Alvarez completed the rout midway through the second half and Brighton, who remained 11th in the table, never looked capable of launching a fightback.

Brighton vs Man City highlights

• Man City respond to Arsenal in Premier League title race

• Guardiola warns Man City and Arsenal over Liverpool results in race

Good night!

22:54 , Jonathan Gorrie

Thanks for joining Standard Sport’s LIVE coverage of Man City’s win over Brighton.

Find our report and reaction below!

Guardiola warns Man City and Arsenal over Liverpool results in race

22:53 , Jonathan Gorrie

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City simply have to win every game to lift an unprecedented fourth Premier League title.

The champions moved within a point of Arsenal by cruising to a 4-0 victory at Brighton on Thursday night and crucially boast a game in hand over the Gunners.

Arsenal and Liverpool have both dropped points in April, a period of the season in which City are renowned for their relentless run of form.

Read the full story here!

Man City respond to Arsenal in Premier League title race

21:58 , Jonathan Gorrie

Manchester City ensured they responded to Arsenal in the Premier League title race with a dominant 4-0 victory at Brighton.

The Gunners have won twice since the champions beat Luton earlier this month to reclaim top spot and briefly opened up a four-point gap.

Still, a fine Kevin De Bruyne header set City on their way to cutting that down to just one point while also boasting a game in hand.

Read the full story here!

FT: Brighton 0-4 Man City

21:57 , Jonathan Gorrie

Light work for City after De Bruyne’s brilliant opener, Foden’s brace and Alvarez’s fourth.

Brighton 0-4 Man City

21:52 , Jonathan Gorrie

90 mins: 5 minutes added on here.

Brighton 0-4 Man City

21:50 , Jonathan Gorrie

88 mins: City just knocking the ball about here waiting for the full-time whistle.

Brighton 0-4 Man City

21:44 , Jonathan Gorrie

82 mins: Ominous signs here.

This looked like one of City’s tougher tests on paper but they’ve cruised to victory.

Brighton 0-4 Man City

21:40 , Jonathan Gorrie

78 mins: Walker, Silva and Rodri off for Lewis, Gomez and Doku.

Brighton 0-3 Man City

21:32 , Jonathan Gorrie

70 mins: VAR has a look but nothing given!

Brighton 0-4 Man City

21:31 , Jonathan Gorrie

69 mins: Pedro wants a penalty after challenge from Gvardiol but nothing is given.

The Seagulls can probably feel hard done by again...

GOAL! Brighton 0-4 Man City | Julian Alvarez '61

21:23 , Jonathan Gorrie

61 mins: GOAL!

Walker drifts up the right hand side but his lunging shot is blocked before Alvarez rolls into an empty net!

Brighton 0-3 Man City

21:21 , Jonathan Gorrie

59 mins: Alvarez goes close with two shots, One over the bar and one straight at the ‘keeper.

Brighton 0-3 Man City

21:16 , Jonathan Gorrie

54 mins: Easy street for City, albeit the hosts should really have had that penalty.

Guardiola may soon be tempted to rest players.

Brighton 0-3 Man City

21:07 , Jonathan Gorrie

45 mins: Brighton want a penalty as Gross goes down under Rodri’s challenge.

Nothing given.

Brighton 0-3 Man City

21:06 , Jonathan Gorrie

Back underway!

Brighton 0-3 Man City

21:04 , Jonathan Gorrie

And his second!

Brighton 0-3 Man City

21:03 , Jonathan Gorrie

Here’s a look at Foden’s first...

Brighton 0-3 Man City

20:55 , Jonathan Gorrie

De Bruyne went full Van Persie...

Brighton 0-3 Man City

20:50 , Jonathan Gorrie

HT: The champions have a commanding lead at the break!

Brighton 0-3 Man City

20:47 , Jonathan Gorrie

45 mins: Into added time here and Brighton need it.

City are making it look so easy.

Brighton 0-3 Man CIty

20:41 , Jonathan Gorrie

39 mins: Foden is not a popular figure amongst the home fans...

Brighton 0-3 Man City

20:38 , Jonathan Gorrie

36 mins: Walker blocks Barco’s shot and City clear the resulting corner.

GOAL! Brighton 0-3 Man City | Phil Foden '33

20:35 , Jonathan Gorrie

33 mins: GOAL!

City are in cruise control!

Brighton caught trying to play out from the back. Foden collects a stray pass only yards from goal and rolls it into the corner.

Brighton 0-2 Man City

20:30 , Jonathan Gorrie

28 mins: After a strong start from Brighton, City are in almost total control now.

GOAL! Brighton 0-2 Man City | Phil Foden '25

20:27 , Jonathan Gorrie

25 mins; GOAL!

Foden’s shot from the free-kick deflects off Gross and through Steele!

Brighton 0-1 Man City

20:25 , Jonathan Gorrie

24 mins; Dangerous free-kick for City as Foden goes down just outside the box...

Brighton 0-1 Man City

20:25 , Jonathan Gorrie

23 mins; It’s such a good header from De Bruyne. Erling Haaland eat your heart out!

Brighton 0-1 Man City

20:21 , Jonathan Gorrie

19 mins: Chances at both ends!

Dunk heads straight at Ederson from a corner before Alvarez fires straight across Steele.

GOAL! Brighton 0-1 Man City | Kevin De Bruyne '16

20:18 , Jonathan Gorrie

16 mins: GOAL!

It’s not too often De Bruyne scores a header but what an effort it was!

He angles it over Steele into the top corner following Walker’s cross!

Brighton 0-0 Man City

20:16 , Jonathan Gorrie

14 mins: Best City chance so far as Ake latches onto a brilliant cross from a Foden free-kick but fires over.

Brighton 0-0 Man City

20:11 , Jonathan Gorrie

09 mins: Very strong start from Brighton, who are not at all bothered by City’s pressing.

Brighton 0-0 Man City

20:07 , Jonathan Gorrie

05 mins: Great play from Pedro to hold off Walker but there aren’t enough options and his ball to Veltman comes too late.

His cross is cut out with relative ease but Brighton have started well.

Brighton 0-0 Man City

20:04 , Jonathan Gorrie

02 mins: Early chance for Brighton as Ederson stretches down to deny Welbeck.

Brighton vs Man City: KICK-OFF!

20:01 , Jonathan Gorrie

Away we go!

Brighton vs Man City

19:49 , Jonathan Gorrie

Huge respect between Guardiola and De Zerbi...

Man City in ominous form

19:33 , Jonathan Gorrie

Unbeaten in 17 Premier League games, this is going to be some ask for Brighton...

Man City team news

19:12 , Jonathan Gorrie

Julian Alvarez leads the line with Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji at centre-back.

John Stones, however, is at least fit enough for the bench.

Jurgen Klopp sends Man City title message after Liverpool defeat

19:08 , Jonathan Gorrie

Speaking after Liverpool’s loss to Everton on Wednesday, Klopp told reporters: “We need them to lose games and historically they don't do that.”

Ouch.

Confirmed Man City lineup

19:03 , Jonathan Gorrie

Man City XI: Ederson, Walker, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Rodri, Kovacic, Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, Foden, Alvarez

Subs: Dias, Stones, Grealish, Doku, Ortega, Gomez, Nunes, Bobb, Lewis

Confirmed Brighton lineup

19:02 , Jonathan Gorrie

Brighton XI: Steele, Veltman, van Hecke, Dunk, Barco, Gross, Baleba, Lallana, Moder, Joao Pedro, Welbeck

Subs: Verbruggen, Igor, Webster, Enciso, Adingra, Fati, Buonanotte, Offiah, O'Mahony

Brighton vs Man City: Latest team news

18:48 , Jonathan Gorrie

We’re roughly ten minutes away from team news landing...

Pep Guardiola slams 'unacceptable' FA Cup schedule after Man City win

18:41 , Jonathan Gorrie

Pep Guardiola hit out at the television schedule that forced his team to play an FA Cup semi-final three days after playing 120 minutes against Real Madrid.

Manchester City were second best but still beat Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley Stadium. Bernardo Silva finished from Kevin De Bruyne’s 84th-minute cross for the only goal of the match, after Chelsea had missed a number of big chances.

Read the full story here!

Brighton vs Man City: Latest Premier League odds today

18:14 , Jonathan Gorrie

Brighton to win: 6/1

Draw: 7/2

Man City to win: 2/7

Odds via Bet365 and subject to change.

Is Erling Haaland playing for Man City today?

17:48 , Jonathan Gorrie

The answer is no.

Guardiola confirmed at a press conference earlier this week that Erling Haaland is still out with the muscle problem that prevented him playing against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals last week.

"Erling [Haaland] is not ready for tomorrow,” he said.

“It is not a big problem.”

Pep Guardiola addresses potential Joao Cancelo return to Man City

17:45 , Jonathan Gorrie

Joao Cancelo has spent time with both Bayern Munich and Barcelona on loan since leaving Man City in January 2023 but his long-term future remains unclear.

Pep Guardiola insists no decision has been made on what happens next for the full-back.

"We didn't discuss Cancelo's future yet", he said.

"We will discuss at the end of the season.”

Brighton vs Man City: Head to head (h2h) history and results

17:42 , Jonathan Gorrie

Brighton wins: 6

Draws: 5

Man City wins: 20

Brighton vs Man City: Premier League score prediction today

17:35 , Jonathan Gorrie

This is certainly a difficult game for City but they have proven so strong in title run-ins that it’s hard to look past them.

Man City to win 3-1.

Man City team news vs Brighton today

17:34 , Jonathan Gorrie

City, meanwhile remain without Erling Haaland after he did not play at Wembley following a muscle complaint.

The striker and Phil Foden missed training on Tuesday but the latter has been passed fit, along with John Stones.

Brighton team news vs Man City today

17:30 , Jonathan Gorrie

Evan Ferguson, Billy Gilmour, James Miler and Adam Webster are all believed to be making progress in their returns from injury, although it’s not yet clear if this game will come too soon.

Kaoru Mitoma, Jack Hinshelwood and Solly March may be unlikely to play again this season. Tariq Lamptey and Pervis Estupinan are out too, along with Julio Enciso.

Brighton vs Man City: TV channel and live stream today

17:30 , Jonathan Gorrie

TV channel: The game will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Ultra HDR. Coverage starts at 7pm.

Live stream: Subscribers will be able to watch on a live stream via the Sky Go website or app.

LIVE coverage: Follow all the action with Standard Sport’s dedicated match blog!

Welcome

17:11 , Jonathan Gorrie

Good evening and welcome to Standard Sport’s LIVE coverage of Manchester City’s Premier League clash away at Brighton this evening.

Kick-off from the Amex Stadium is at 8pm BST.