Brighton vs Man City predicted lineups and team news
The Amex Stadium has been a happy hunting ground for Man City in recent times, but they head to Brighton on Saturday off the back of three straight defeats in all competitions.
Brighton vs Man City predicted lineups
Brighton (4-4-2): Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Igor Julio, Estupinan; Kadioglu, Hinshelwood, Beleba, Mitoma; Rutter, Welbeck
Man City (4-1-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Kovacic; Foden, Bernardo, Gundogan, Doku; Haaland
Pep Guardiola’s men have fallen two points behind Liverpool in the league and now face a Seagulls team that could move into the top six with victory (kick-off 5:30, live on Sky Sports Main Event).
Pep has questions to answer
City’s 2-1 league defeat at Bournemouth last weekend was followed by a heavy 4-1 loss at Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.
With Rodri still sidelined by injury, the current crop of stars will be asked to turn things around and get their season back on track.
Erling Haaland has scored just one goal in his last five Premier League games, while Phil Foden is still seeking his first league goal of the season.
Defensively they are issues as well, with City having kept just one clean sheet in five away games in the league this term – that came on the opening weekend at Chelsea.
They come up against a Brighton team that have also failed to win any of their last three fixtures, although two of those were against Liverpool, in the EFL Cup and the league.
Fabian Hurzeler’s men still find themselves eighth in the table and there has been plenty of entertainment for the fans at the Amex since the 31-year-old took charge.
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There have been four or more goals in each of the Seagulls last five home games in all competitions, with Brighton conceding 11 goals during that run.
The head-to-head stats make concerning reading for Brighton fans and backers, with City unbeaten in their last six meetings with Saturday’s opponents – five wins and a draw.
Guardiola’s men won this fixture 4-0 last term, with the visitors 3-0 up at the break, while they also won 2-1 at the Etihad in the reverse fixture.
Brighton vs Man City team news
As well as Rodri, John Stones and Ruden Dias, the champions have Jack Grealish and Oscar Bobb still sidelined for Saturday’s game.
Teenage defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey started at centre-back in Portugal, but Nathan Ake is expected to return in his place on Saturday.
There are also likely to be changes in the middle of the park, with Ilkay Gundogan set to return having started on the bench against Sporting.
Brighton also have their injury problems, with the likes of James Milner, Solly March, Lewis Dunk and Yankuba Minteh still missing.
Midfielder Carlos Baleba is pushing for a recall to the starting XI, having fully recovered from a recent knock.