Brighton & Hove Albion face a tough test of their top four credentials as they welcome Manchester City to AMEX Stadium.
Victory would see Brighton leapfrog City into third, whereas Man City can go top with victory if Chelsea lose in the early kick-off with Liverpool not in action until Sunday.
Team News
Adam Webster could return for Brighton after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Steven Alzate (ankle) and Danny Welbeck (hamstring) remain ruled out.
Man City have no fresh injury concerns to report as Ferran Torres (foot), Liam Delap (ankle) and Benjamin Mendy (personal) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Brighton have won just one of their last five meetings against Manchester City (W1, L4).
- Man City have won three of four previous Premier League trips to AMEX Stadium (W3, L1).
- Man City’s Phil Foden netted in both meetings against Brighton last season.
- No Brighton player has put more shots on target than Leandro Trossard, who has converted six of his 21 shots onto target.
- Two of Man City’s 16 league goals have been scored from headers.
Prediction
After enduring two frustrating goalless draws despite being the more dominant team over Arsenal and Norwich respectively, Brighton should come into this match fired up because they are somehow still in the title race which is impressive by their standards.
This match though is going to pose a stern test of Brighton’s improvements especially if their defence is often outstretched like it was at Norwich last weekend, on top of poor finishing which a team like City will certainly punish.
Speaking of City, they delivered a controlled performance against Burnley last weekend packed with clinical attacks, despite their defence getting caught out in a high line which cannot be repeated here especially after Wednesday’s ruthless Champions League mauling of Club Brugge.
Either way, goals here surely are going to be a certain given City’s form but if Brighton can find their scoring boots again and luck falls their way, this could well be a cracker but I am going for an away win purely on quality.
Prediction: Brighton 1-2 Manchester City
Result: Brighton 1-4 Manchester City