Brighton boss Graham Potter admits it is difficult to explain the seismic points gap between Premier League champions Liverpool and second-placed Manchester City.
Albion welcome City to the Amex Stadium on Saturday evening, just three days after suffering a 3-1 home loss to Jurgen Klopp’s Reds.
Pep Guardiola’s side – champions in the previous two years – top many of this season’s stats tables, including goals scored, chances created, shots, and passes.
“It’s hard. I haven’t analysed all the games. Liverpool just in terms of the relentlessness of the points that they are achieving is just incredible,” he said.
“Man City, if you look at their performances, it’s still a really, really high level, in terms of shots, in terms of chances, in terms of chances conceded, it’s still really, really high.
“But obviously the points tally is the key and sometimes that’s the margins in the Premier League that go against you.”
Away games have proved far more tricky for Guardiola’s men and they travel to the Amex Stadium having lost their last three league games on the road, including a 2-0 defeat to rivals Manchester United back in March.
They bounced back from last weekend’s shock loss at Southampton by hitting five against Steve Bruce’s Magpies on Wednesday evening.
“They lost against Southampton 1-0 but on another day they win that game quite a few times, that’s the beauty of football,” said Potter.
“I think how Man City are they put it to bed pretty quickly the disappointments.
“They bounced back with a really good victory. They will be ready, they’re a top team and we’re expecting a very, very tough game.
“You need to have a lot of luck, you have to play well, you have to defend well, you have to do everything pretty much perfectly from your perspective.
“And you hope that you have an opponent on an off-day. You need different things to fall for you because the level is so high and from a points perspective you can see that.”
