Manchester City are back on the south coast to face Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend.
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City best bets
- Brighton or draw – 21/20 with BetMGM
- Over 1.5 goals in first half – 59/50 with BetMGM
- Josko Gvardiol over 0.5 shots – 11/5 with BetMGM
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City odds
Find the latest match odds for Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City. All odds are provided by our best football betting sites. Odds are subject to change.
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City predictions
There are times when too much is read into a player’s absence.
It is easy to point towards a particular injury or suspension as a leading cause of a team’s dip in form. Yet in many cases, the downturn would have happened anyway.
Rodri is not one of those instances. Anyone who has watched Manchester City in recent weeks knows that the Premier League champions are hugely missing the Spain international and Ballon d’Or winner.
Pep Guardiola’s side are in a slump. They have lost each of their last three games, going down to Tottenham Hotspur, Bournemouth and Sporting CP in three different competitions.
City have not been beaten in four consecutive games in the Guardiola era (or under any manager in the same season since a six-match losing streak under Stuart Pearce in 2005/06) but that fate could befall them at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.
Their main issue is in midfield, where a Rodri-shaped hole has been apparent since the Spaniard suffered a serious knee injury in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal in September.
City are missing Rodri’s tempo-setting passing in midfield. He is the best controller of a game in world football. City’s possession game is not as effective without him.
But it is on the other side of the ball that City are really missing Rodri. Their recent opponents, most notably Sporting CP in midweek, have found it far too easy to counter-attack Guardiola’s team, who have been powerless to prevent transitions.
There are other issues. After a fast start to the season, the goals have dried up for Erling Haaland of late – at least by his own high standards.
Rodri is not the only player sidelined either: Ruben Dias, John Stones, Jack Grealish and Oscar Bobb are also out, and Kevin De Bruyne is still working his way back to full fitness.
Still, there is no need to go overboard. City took seven points from the first nine available in the Champions League. They are just one point adrift of top spot in the Premier League and would rise to the summit of the standings, at least temporarily, with a victory over Brighton & Hove Albion. All is not lost yet.
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City betting tips
Manchester City are aiming to get their Premier League title challenge back on track this weekend.
Brighton or draw
Brighton & Hove Albion have had a solid start to the campaign.
With four wins, four draws and two defeats to their name so far, Fabian Hurzeler’s side are eighth in the table heading into the weekend, but just three points separate them from Nottingham Forest in third.
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Brighton have a decent record against the Premier League’s biggest clubs. True, they lost to Chelsea and Liverpool away from home. But they have beaten Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, as well as taking a point from a meeting with Arsenal.
Manchester City have won five of their last six clashes with Brighton, but we have not seen the best of Guardiola’s team of late.
With the home fans behind them on Saturday, the Seagulls can avoid defeat in this one
Back a Brighton win or a draw at 21/20 with BetMGM
Over 1.5 goals in first half
Only Tottenham have scored more goals than Manchester City in the Premier League, while Guardiola’s side lead the way for expected goals. Over the course of the first 10 games, City have not had too much trouble in attack.
Most of those goals have come in the first half – 13 out of 21. No one has scored more often from minutes one to 45.
Brighton have not fared too badly in that department either, having made the net bulge nine times in the opening period.
With all that in mind, there is a good chance of at least two goals being scored in the first half of this encounter at the Amex Stadium.
Go for over 1.5 goals in the first half at 59/50 with BetMGM
Josko Gvardiol over 0.5 shots
In many ways, Josko Gvardiol is a defender in name only.
Gvardiol, a centre-half by trade who usually plays at left-back for City, spends most of the game in advanced areas.
Remarkably, in the entire Premier League only the aforementioned Bernardo Silva has had more touches in the attacking third than the Croatia international.
Meanwhile, Haaland is the only Manchester City player with more goals to his name than Gvardiol, while Pedro Porro is the only defender in the division who has taken more shots than the City man’s 15.
That works out at an average of 1.67 per appearance for Gvardiol, demonstrating that this bet represents good value.
Tip Josko Gvardiol to have over 0.5 shots at 11/5 with BetMGM
How to watch Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City
- Location: Amex Stadium, Brighton, England.
- Date and time: Saturday 9th November, 5.30pm.
- How to watch: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League.
Read more about the 2024/25 football season
- Premier League winner predictions
- Premier League relegation odds
- Champions League winner odds
- Championship promotion odds
About the author
Greg Lea
Greg Lea is a freelance football writer from London. He predominantly covers the Premier League and has had work published by the Guardian, FourFourTwo, ESPN and others.
Follow Greg on X: @GregLeaFootball
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