Will City’s defense be solid again on the road?
The Seagulls proved to be exemplary guests in Liverpool at the beginning of the week. At the opening of Everton’s new stadium, they clearly didn’t want to crash the party on the Mersey and gave the Toffees a 2-0 home win at their new venue.
The visitors also suffered a defeat against Tottenham in the last round of matches, which is why both teams now want to get back on track.
After the aforementioned defeat at Everton, the hosts are still waiting for their first three points after two rounds of matches, as their season opener against Fulham also ended in a draw. The Citizens, on the other hand, were able to secure a victory in their first league game of the new season.
This was a very clear 4-0 win at Wolverhampton. For Guardiola’s team’s next away game at Brighton against Manchester City, the forecast is for another win. We see the recent defeat against Tottenham as a slip-up, and the Spurs are currently in very good form. This is not the case for the home team from the seaside resort.
Brighton – Manchester City Head-to-head record
In the previous season, coach Fabian Hürzeler’s home team remained unbeaten against Manchester City in both matches, achieving a 2-1 home win and an away draw. What’s more, both encounters were high-scoring, with three and four goals respectively.
Despite the recent victory in front of their own fans, Brighton’s home record against City remains room for improvement: Since their promotion to the Premier League in 2017, the hosts have won only two of eight home games against the Citizens, losing the majority (5). Bookmakers expect this balance of power to continue, with the Brighton vs. Manchester City betting odds favoring the visitors.
Brighton – Manchester City Tip
The fact that the hosts have yet to win after two rounds of games is mainly due to their careless handling of their own chances. No other team in the Premier League is currently underperforming its expected goals value more than the Seagulls with -2.91!
Now City are traveling to the seaside resort, and they are a very strong defensive team, at least away from home. Across the season, the visitors have conceded just one goal in their last seven away games in the league and are currently on a run of five away games without conceding!
Furthermore, Guardiola’s squad is naturally better equipped and City will be highly motivated to immediately make up for last weekend’s surprise defeat against Tottenham.
The prediction is further supported by the timing of the match: the hosts had to play an additional EFL Cup match against Oxford this week, while their upcoming opponents had a break. This also gives the visiting team a slight physical advantage.
