Manchester City are in uncharted waters. Three losses in a row have eroded their sense of immortality under Pep Guardiola. Gone are the days when they conquered England, Europe and the rest of the world.
Their 4-1 thrashing at Sporting Lisbon by Guardiola’s future Man United rival Ruben Amorim has sent alarm bells ringing around the Etihad and highlighted just how much they miss their big stars like Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne.
City are under fire ahead of a tricky trip to Brighton, but things don’t look as bad as they seem. They have only lost one Premier League game all season and are just two points off league-leaders Liverpool. Losing to Bournemouth for the first time ever last weekend will have been a confidence drainer, however, especially following Guardiola’s sobering words after the game.
“They are so aggressive,” he said. “They have physicality and speed, but you have to win these types of situations. Today we could not handle their intensity and that’s why we lost the game.
“It is what it is. We have few players with a lot of minutes and a lot of players with no minutes, so the balance is a bit uncomfortable.”
So there’s a lack of intensity, lack of match fitness and lack of balance. In addition to all that, there’s a lack of key players. Rodri and De Bruyne have been huge misses for City in recent weeks, while defenders John Stones and Ruben Dias have joined an injury list that also includes winger Jack Grealish and Oscar Bobb.
It’s impossible to create serious momentum in a demanding season on multiple fronts when so many of your most valuable assets keep dropping like flies. There was even concern for Erling Haaland after he went down in a training session ahead of the Sporting Lisbon game.
In short, it’s not a bad time to play Manchester City. And Brighton, who have been something of a giant-killing outfit this season, will relish the challenge.
The Seagulls, who have performed admirably under new boss Fabian Hurzeler this season, have already beaten Manchester United, Tottenham and Newcastle and got a point off Arsenal at the Emirates. Last week, they took the lead against Liverpool at Anfield and were only narrowly beaten 2-1.
Brighton can frustrate you and create chances out of nothing. We know City love to keep the ball, but Brighton dominated possession against Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal away this season. They’re only two points off fourth-placed Chelsea and they’ll have serious ambitions of securing European qualification of some kind.
Having said that, Brighton have a pretty rough record against Manchester City in the Premier League. They’ve only beaten them six times in their history and their only win over them in the top flight came in 2021, when they secured a famous 3-2 home victory. Since then, City have won five of the last six, drawing the other.
City’s big selection decision will be over De Bruyne, who came on as a sub against Sporting. It remains to be seen whether he’s fit enough to start here. Savinho and Jeremy Doku are back in contention after suffering a knock, but Dias, Grealish and Stones remain out. Brighton have no new injury concerns but Joao Pedro, Matt O’Riley and Yankuba Minteh all have a chance of being fit for the game.
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Brighton vs Manchester City odds
Venue: American Express Stadium — Brighton
Time: 5:30 p.m. GMT (12:30 p.m. ET), Saturday
Streaming: Fubo (US only, try for free)
Form guide (league only)
Brighton & Hove Albion: 4-4-2, 16 points (8th); L-D-W-W-L
Manchester City: 7-2-1, 23 points (2nd); L-W-W-W-D
Match prediction
Brighton 1-2 Man City
City are in a bad way at the moment but having De Bruyne back in the squad should be the injection of confidence they need to get back on track. Guardiola seems undeterred by the team’s poor form and while this is a tough game that won’t be simple, City still have enough quality to see off the Seagulls, even with a handful of stars remaining out.
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(Photo of Erling Haaland: Justin Tallis / AFP via Getty Images)
