Manchester City vs Brighton: Albion fans optimistic ahead of FA Cup semi-final

The Seagulls take on quadruple-hunting City in a 5.30pm kick-off at Wembley and are huge underdogs for the FA Cup semi-final, with City priced at 1/50 to reach the final with some bookmakers.

However, that hasn't stopped Albion fans being optimistic.

Paul Nye, 42 ,predicted a 2-1 win for Brighton.

He said: "I couldn't sleep last night, I was so excited. It was like Christmas Eve.

"We've come for the ride and I'm hoping they are going to go for it. We've got to give it a good go and see what happens. It's the FA Cup, anything can happen. We've got to play with speed and get them on the break like Swansea did."

Diggs, 43, went for a 3-1 Albion win. He said: "I'm really excited. I can't wait. It's a big occasion for the lads. We need to make sure we don't let any goals in early doors and keep it tight and see where we go from there."

Paul Archer, 66, predicted a 2-1 win.

"I hope we attack them a little bit than we have been doing lately," he said. I'm hopeful but we are taking on the world's best team.

"We need to attack rather than putting 11 men back in defence. [Glenn] Murray can't do it all on his own and [Florin] Andone can't do it on his own. We would like to see them together up front but Chris Hughton won't do that and I don't know why. I'd like to say 2-1 to us, hopefully but 1-0 will do."

Brad, 27, said, regardless of the result, 'it's about making a day of it'.

He said: "This is the first chance I've had to go to a game like this in my lifetime. I'm not old enough to remember the last time we were at Wembley.

"It's a massive day. The amount of people we are bringing here says a lot. It is pushing 35,000, which says a lot about the occasion for everyone. Regardless of the opponent and how we do, it's about making a day of it. I'm very excited.

"As much as I would us to give it a go and push City there is always a risk we will get caught doing that. It's about getting the balance and it depends on the line up. I would like to think we'll have Andone up front so we have got pace and our striker isn't isolated. Head says we'll lose 3-0, heart says we'll nick it 2-1 with a late goal."

Family-of-four Pete, Helen, Ben and Chloe Bettesworth, who predicted a 2-1 win, are 'really excited'.

Pete said: "We've just got to play well and try hard. We've got to play on the break when we get the chance, defend solidly, play Bernardo out from the back. We've come in with reasonable expectations but we will be happy either way."

Brian and Debbie Forman said they are 'super excited' and predicted a 1-0 win for Brighton.

Brian said: "It's been a long time since I've been to Wembley. We were relegated the last time I came in 1983 so we can't have that again. I expect it to be very defensive but I would like to see them show a bit of ambition to take it to them. City will expect us to be defensive so I would like to surprise them and go for it."

When asked how excited he was, Dave Mitchell, who predicted a 1-0 win, said: "On a scale of 1- 10, I would say an 8. By far it is the biggest game of our season.

"We are going to have a good day out, this is our final."

Dave said Albion need to 'park the bus' to stand a chance but his mate Danny Wells thinks they need to play attacking football

Danny said: "I think we should go for it, it makes no difference at the end of the day."

Cliff Cartland wasn't so confident. He said: "I think we'll lose 3-1, if you want me to be honest."

Andrew McGita agreed. He said: "We need to play more attacking than we normally do. Hopefully two up front as we can't defend on this one. I'm not really confident, I think we'll get beat. 3-1 City."