Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will be hoping to bounce back from a disappointing 1-0 loss to Liverpool at Anfield last Sunday. Meanwhile, Roberto de Zerbi will be hoping his Brighton side can upset the strong favourites despite a month of below-par results.

Manchester City currently sit second in the league, four points behind the impressive Arsenal. However, Pep Guardiola’s team are still favourites to retain their Premier League title in May, as well as firm favourites to take all three points coming into this fixture.

City have had a poor two weeks by their standards, drawing 0-0 against Copenhagen in the Champions League group stages and dropping three precious points in an away loss against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. However, after their Gameweek 12 midweek fixture against Arsenal was postponed due to European fixtures, Pep Guardiola’s side will be well-rested and desperate to right the wrongs of last Sunday’s dismal performance.

Brighton, meanwhile, faced off against struggling side Nottingham Forest on Wednesday in a torrid, cagey affair that ended in a goalless draw. Brighton were by far the better side on the night. However, a familiar ghost came around to haunt the south-coast side – underperformance in the opposition box. Brighton saw shots hit the woodwork and chances flash whiskers wide and would have been shocked and aggravated that they didn’t manage to put the ball into the Nottingham Forest net on multiple occasions.

Previously to the Forest game, Brighton lost 2-0 away to Brentford and 0-1 at home to Tottenham. The same issue was noticeable in both of these fixtures, with Brighton’s general play and chance creation as good as any, but lacklustre finishing meant more dropped points.

Against an incredible side such as Manchester City, the Brighton players will surely be left to rue any missed chances, with goalscoring robot Erling Haaland able to turn a nothing chance into a goal with relentless consistency. Recently-retired Brighton midfielder Enock Mwepu will be watching his side proudly from the stands, having called a day on his football career due to a hereditary cardiac condition, and thoughts and prayers are with the Zambian hero in this tough time.

  • Team News

For Manchester City, Pep Guardiola will be grateful for the exceptional squad depth afforded to him (with a £1 billion squad!) as summer signing Kalvin Phillips, defensive stalwart John Stones, and mainstay wing-back Kyle Walker are all carrying knocks and are doubts for the Brighton fixture.

With Sergio Gomez also out due to suspension, it is highly likely Guardiola will play Joao Cancelo as one full-back and use a makeshift full-back on the alternate flank, recently opting for Manuel Akanji in the role, although Nathan Ake has also proven himself as a left back for City.

Meanwhile, Brighton will be unable to call upon Jakub Moder and Kaoru Mitoma, both sustaining injuries, while loanee Levi Colwill is being assessed. As previously mentioned, Enock Mwepu has decided to stop playing football due to the discovery of his hereditary cardiac condition.

  • Predicted Line-ups

Manchester CityEderson, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Cancelo, Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Foden, Grealish, Haaland

BrightonSanchez, Veltman, Dunk, Webster, March, Estupinan, MacAllister, Caicedo, Groß, Trossard, Welbeck

Both sides may make one change from their last fixture, with £100 million man Jack Grealish potentially providing creativity from the flank for Manchester City, while Pervis Estupinan’s inclusion at the expense of Adam Lallana, allowing Leandro Trossard to move into a more advanced position as he was Brighton’s main goal threat against Nottingham Forest and knows where the net is – judging off his wonderful hat-trick at Anfield at the beginning of the month.

  • Players To Watch

It is hard to talk about Manchester City nowadays without a certain Norwegian Viking springing to mind. However, this fixture's chosen player to watch will be Kevin De Bruyne. Due to the outrageous nature of Haaland’s start to life in the Premier League, De Bruyne’s similarly astounding season is going slightly under the radar.

The Belgian man has been City’s shining jewel since arriving from Wolfsburg in August 2015 – for a then-ridiculed fee of £54 million, which is now viewed as a complete steal in retrospect. The brilliant Belgian leads the league in assists with nine, doubling the tally of tied-for-second creators Bukayo Saka and teammate Bernardo Silva.

This is representative of the deeper role De Bruyne has adopted, after featuring heavily as a centre-forward in the 21/22 season, to allow Erling Haaland to take up the goalscoring mantle. De Bruyne will give the Brighton players a lot to deal with on Saturday, and you can’t switch off for an instant against a player of his calibre.

For Brighton, we are also opting for a Belgian - the aforementioned Leandro Trossard. Trossard plays in a deeper role against Nottingham Forest, yet still topped many attacking metrics for Brighton, also seeing a venomous strike thunder off the crossbar.

If Roberto de Zerbi allows Trossard more freedom in a more advanced role against Manchester City, he has the ability and creativity to torment this Manchester City defence. Especially as the frailties of City’s defence have been exposed numerous times as of late, conceding 3 against local rivals Manchester United and watching on as Mohamed Salah sunk their dreams at Anfield. Trossard has shown he can do it against any opposition, with his brilliant hat-trick against Liverpool at Anfield, giving Trent Alexander-Arnold a headache for 90 minutes.

  • Match Details

Where is the fixture being played?

The fixture is being played at The Etihad, the home ground of Manchester City.

What time is kick-off?

The fixture kicks off at 3 pm BST on Saturday, the 22nd of October.

How can I watch the fixture?

The fixture is one of the elusive Saturday 3pm kick-offs, which aren’t televised in the UK to promote watching lower lever, local football.

My Predictions

I believe Manchester City will come out of the blocks firing and ultimately prove too much to handle for Brighton, taking all three points in a stellar Saturday showing with three goals. Therefore, my prediction is a 3-0 victory for the Citizens, with goals coming from Erling Haaland (2) and Ilkay Gundogan.

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