"Put your hands up if you're a Brighton fan tonight" - Ex-Arsenal star Theo Walcott makes cheeky claim ahead of Manchester City-Brighton clash
Former Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has hilariously hinted at supporting Brighton & Hove Albion in their clash against Manchester City on Thursday, April 25.
The Seagulls are currently hosting the reigning champions at the Falmer Stadium in a high-stakes Premier League clash. City currently sit four points behind league leaders Arsenal, but have two games in hand, including their ongoing fixture.
Ahead of the match, Walcott took to X (formerly Twitter) to ask his followers if they will be supporting Brighton in the match, while indicating that he would be. The Englishman, who scored 108 times in 397 appearances for Arsenal and won three FA Cups between 2006 and 2018, wrote:
"Put your hands up if you’re a Brighton fan tonight? 👀🙌🏻"
The Gunners will remain atop the standings even if Manchester City beat Brighton, with the Citizens leading 1-0 courtesy of a Kevin De Bruyne header at the time of writing. However, their lead will shrink to a single point in that scenario, with the Citizens playing their game in hand on May 14 away to Tottenham Hotspur.
Arsenal notably beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 over the weekend to take top spot from City, who were in FA Cup semifinal action against Chelsea. Mikel Arteta's side then subjected the Blues to a 5-0 thrashing to move to first place.
Meanwhile, the two teams' other title challenger Liverpool beat Fulham 3-1 over the weekend but lost 2-0 to Everton on Wednesday, April 24.
Manchester City edged Brighton in their earlier meeting this season
Both teams have already met once in the Premier League this season, clashing horns at the Etihad Stadium back in October last year.
On that occasion, Julian Alvarez opened the scoring after just seven minutes, while Erling Haaland made it 2-0 to Manchester City in the 19th minute. The hosts seemed to be on their way to a routine win, but Ansu Fati's 73rd-minute strike set up a nervy final period.
Pep Guardiola's side were then reduced to 10 men in the fifth minute of injury time after Manuel Akanji was sent off for a second bookable offence. However, City held on to come away with a 2-1 victory.