Manchester City find themselves four points adrift leaders Arsenal, albeit admittedly with two games in hand, but every game is now must win for the Sky Blues, starting with this trip to Sussex by the Sea.
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City match preview
Manchester City’s hopes of emulating last season’s treble are now gone, with their Champions League dreams having been crushed by Real Madrid in that gut-punch of a penalty shootout last mid-week.
However, with seven games left on their schedule, Pep Guardiola’s team could do the double-double, albeit they may have to win all seven to achieve this, a feat they’re more than capable of achieving.
At the weekend, the Sky Blues set up a second successive Manchester derby FA Cup Final, battling to a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Wembley, with Bernardo Silva firing home the evening’s only goal late on.
In the Premier League meantime, the Citizens are unbeaten in 16, winning each of the last three, most-recently smashing Luton Town 5-1 at the Etihad.
After this, Man City’s remaining fixtures are Nottingham Forest (A), Wolves (H), Fulham (A), Tottenham (A) and then West Ham (H), with many forecasting a sequence of victories that’ll take them to the title, starting here.
Brighton & Hove Albion meantime will be well-rested and raring to go, having not been in action since an underwhelming 1-1 draw at Turf Moor 12 days ago, in which they were gifted a second half equaliser.
The Seagulls are now without a win in four, winning only three of 13 Premier League fixtures since New Year’s Day, form that has seen them slide down to tenth, six points adrift the European positions.
Roberto De Zerbi’s team still have to play Bournemouth (A), Aston Villa (H), Newcastle (A), Chelsea (H) and Manchester United (H), which is a tough run-in as they aim to sneak into a top seven position.
So, given Brighton’s form, a Manchester City victory at the Amex seems the most-likely outcome.
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City Tips
We fully expect Manchester City to leave Sussex victorious, not least because they’ve won 12 of 14 meetings with Brighton since the Seagulls were promoted to the Premier League, losing only one.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side have won only four of 12 home league games since September, these victories coming over Brentford, Tottenham, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.
Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola’s side have won ten of 15 away matches during this campaign, including six of the last seven.
In terms of both teams to score, this has been the case in nine of Man City’s last 12 outings in all competitions.
Meantime, both teams have scored in 61.4% of Brighton’s matches this season, only failing to score in two of 19 home games.
Pep Guardiola confirmed on Wednesday that Erling Braut Håland will miss this game due to injury, as he did Saturday’s FA Cup victory over Chelsea.
In his absence, Man City will need their player of the season Phil Foden to come to the fore, bagging a hat-trick during his most-recent Premier League appearances against Aston Villa, netting 22 times this season overall.
Thus, we’re backing Foden to add to his six goals in his last seven appearances against Brighton.
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