Manchester City head to the south coast after blasting Newcastle United in midweek at home 5-0. In spite of the big home win, Manchester City have struggled to get results on the road recently.
Pep Guardiola’s side have lost four of their last five away matches. That includes three consecutive losses to Manchester United, Chelsea, and Southampton. Last weekend’s loss to Southampton was a shock as the Saints won 1-0.
Although Manchester City have not been good on the road lately, they face a poor Brighton side at the Amex Stadium. Brighton have taken 21 points from 52 possible and are coming off of two heavy home losses.
Brighton conceded three goals to both Manchester United and Liverpool, and despite challenging the latter, came up well short. Graham Potter’s team have won just once in their last six home matches. They were outscored 10-5 during their last six home fixtures.
Since 2017 when Brighton were promoted to the Premier League, they have faced Manchester City six times in all competitions. The Cityzens have won all six fixtures claiming four wins to nil. Their match played earlier this season at the Etihad saw Manchester City win 4-0.
Guardiola has just one player set to miss the weekend fixture away from home. Striker Sergio Aguero underwent knee surgery during the league’s hiatus and is recouping from it. There is hope he could return in time to play the Champions League restart in August.
Other than Aguero, Guardiola has a full roster of players to choose from. However, Manchester City have sold Leroy Sane to Bayern Munich and the winger is gone to his new team already.
Potter doesn’t have any significant injuries at Brighton either. Long-term absentee Jose Izquierdo is out of action and Steve Alzate is also likely to miss the game.
Three of the last six games between the clubs in all competitions saw over 2.5 goals scored. That includes their last two Premier League games.
Manchester City won the Premier League title on the final day of the campaign last season at the Amex Stadium. This season’s trip south is much different and the Cityzens simply want to keep their momentum going for the FA semifinals and the Champions League restart.
The Cityzens should claim a win to nil against the Seagulls with over 2.5 goals being scored. This won’t be a close game as Brighton drop a third straight home match conceding three goals once more.