Football Bet of the Day: Citizens to maintain title charge on the south coast

Manchester City will look to reduce Arsenal's advantage at the top of the Premier League table on Thursday night when they take on Brighton at the AMEX Stadium. Arsenal's emphatic 5-0 win over Chelsea on Tuesday night ensured they are now three points clear of Liverpool in second, but the Reds do have a game in hand.

City have two games in hand on Mikel Arteta's side and are four points behind the Gunners. Brighton will have had over ten days rest before they take to the field, while City were victorious at Wembley on Saturday, beating Chelsea 1-0 to reach the FA Cup final.

Manchester City to win and both teams to score @ 13/8

With Arsenal doing their job in the last few days, it is now over to City to try and increase the pressure on their title rivals. By the time the Citizens play Brighton, Liverpool could be four points ahead of them too, and Pep Guardiola's side cannot afford to slip up.

City can only win the double after they lost to Real Madrid on penalties in the Champions League last week, but that should only make Guardiola's team focus more on the task at hand.

Thankfully for City, they face a team that may already be thinking about their summer break after a hectic campaign. Manager Roberto de Zerbi continues to be linked with moves away, and they have only won three of their 13 Premier League matches in 2024.

The Seagulls have won just two of their previous ten games in all competitions, and they were held to a 1-1 draw by strugglers Burnley last time.

While De Zerbi's men are unlikely to claim any points on Thursday, they have proven to be tough to beat in front of their own fans.

Brighton have only lost one of their previous 15 games in all competitions at home, but that did come against Arsenal this month. De Zerbi's outfit have only lost two league games at home all season, with only Liverpool and Thursday's opponents enjoying a better record.

The hosts have only failed to find the net on two occasions at home all season, and that will worry a City side that have only kept five clean sheets on the road.

Guardiola's men have conceded eight goals in their last four away games in all competitions, and while they should have too much quality over 90 minutes, expect the hosts to at least trouble the scoresheet.

The champions will have to dig deep, but they are used to it, and they should be able to extend their unbeaten away record to 14 matches.

Match odds; Brighton 5/1, Draw 7/2, Man City 2/5

Football bet of the day from Betfred Insights.