Manchester City look to get their title aspirations back on track in a tough home game against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Victory would keep Man City second in the table, whilst Brighton can climb as high as sixth with a win if results elsewhere swing in their favour.
Team News
Josko Gvardiol is ruled out indefinitely for Man City after he broke his leg in their 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea.
Ruben Dias (hamstring) is also sidelined but Nico Gonzalez is set to return after recovering from a minor knock.
Savinho (knock) is unlikely to be fit for selection, whilst John Stones (thigh), Rayan Ait-Nouri, Omar Marmoush (both international duty), Mateo Kovacic (foot) and Oscar Bobb (hamstring) remain sidelined.
Brighton could welcome Yankuba Minteh back after he sat out their 2-0 victory at home to Burnley, due to a dead leg.
Mats Wieffer (toe), Carlos Baleba (international duty), Stefanos Tzimas (ACL), Solly March and Adam Webster (both knee) remain sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Man City host Brighton at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday 7 January at 7:30pm GMT, live on Sky Sports Main Event in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Man City have lost two of their last three meetings against Brighton (D1, L2).
- Brighton are winless in eight previous Premier League visits to Man City (D1, L7).
- City’s Erling Haaland has scored four goals in three home appearances against Brighton (W2, D1).
- Man City have scored seven goals and conceded one goal in their last three home top-flight games (W2, D1).
- Bart Verbruggen has played more successful long passes this season than any other Brighton player (95).
Prediction
With uncharacteristic sloppy finishing in their draw against Chelsea, Man City really need to deliver a more polished display if they want to get their title challenge back on track but losing Dias and Gvardiol are huge losses at the back, although City have enough depth to cope with some tweaks.
Brighton meanwhile outclassed Burnley but I do expect them to have do a lot of defending against City’s in-form attack given their poor form at the Etihad, yet if they can target the hosts’ defence and be clinical then I do think that they can get something here.
Prediction: Man City 1-1 Brighton
Result: Man City 1-1 Brighton
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