Manchester City vs Brighton predictions: Seagulls' fine run to end at City
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- City are fifth, two points behind Chelsea above them
- Brighton are seventh but just a point off City
- Recommended bet: Manchester City to win and both teams to score
Manchester City's poor season took another downward turn last weekend when they lost 1-0 at Nottingham Forest and Pep Guardiola's side are now in a real scrap to finish in the Champions League places.
City are fifth – which may be enough this year to seal a place in Europe's biggest club competition – but they can ill-afford many more slip-ups with the likes of Newcastle, Aston Villa and Saturday's in-form opponents, Brighton, all poised nicely, sitting just behind in the table.
Team news
City are still without injured quintet Rodri, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, John Stones and Oscar Bobb.
Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Omar Marmoush and Nico O'Reilly were all named on the bench for the clash at Forest and are options to start if Guardiola decides to freshen things up.
Brighton have Tariq Lamptey available after suspension, but Ferdi Kadioglu, James Milner and Igor Julio remain on the sidelines.
Matt O'Riley, Joel Veltman and Lewis Dunk could all be in contention to return to boost Fabian Hurzeler's options for the trip to the Etihad.
The stats
City have won six of their last eight home games in all competition. During that run at the Etihad, Guardiola's men have scored 27 goals.
Brighton are on a four-game winning run in the league and have won six straight games in all competitions heading into Saturday's showdown.
Brighton have only failed to score in one away game in all competitions all season – the 7-0 hammering they suffered at Nottingham Forest at the start of February.
Prior to their defeat at the Amex earlier in the season, City had won five of the past six meetings between the sides, with the other ending in a draw.
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Prediction
City have had an unexpectedly poor season, slipping out of the Premier League title race over the winter, while they were also dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid last month.
Guardiola has admitted he fears his side could struggle to make the top four or five this term due to the quality of the teams around them in the table and Brighton are one of them who will be ready to take advantage of any more stumbles.
However, the Citizens can come out on top this weekend in an entertaining game which should see both teams scoring.
The reigning champions have won six of their last eight games at the Etihad, with the two defeats in that run coming against Real and runaway league leaders Liverpool so they can be somewhat excused.
The Seagulls defeated City in early November when they came from behind late on to win 2-1 at the Amex and Guardiola's side then went on a miserable run, winning just one of their next seven league games as their title defence disintegrated.
They can exact a bit of revenge by seeing off Hurzeler's side on Saturday, ending their fine run of form in the process.
Albion have won their last six games in all competitions, an impressive spell that includes two victories over Chelsea, and others over Fulham, Bournemouth and Newcastle.
And despite City's obvious troubles this term, a trip to the Etihad remains one of the toughest in the division, so Brighton look set to be on the end of a narrow defeat.
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