Brighton vs Man City Prediction: Citizens can continue hot streak against Seagulls

12 days without a game may have been somewhat of a relief for Brighton & Hove Albion, who have been suffering with a lengthy injury list and are winless in their last four. The Seagulls return to action on Thursday, though, with Manchester City providing the opposition at the Amex Stadium.

Kicking off at 20:00, this Premier League contest will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event, and you can get the lowdown on all the latest team news and match odds for it by reading my Brighton vs Man City prediction below.

Brighton arrive into this one looking for a first Premier League victory since March 10, when they beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 courtesy of an Andrew Omobamidele own goal. They've scored just twice in four league games since, but only one of those goals - Danny Welbeck's opener in a 2-1 defeat against Liverpool - came from one of their own players, as a point was only salvaged in a 1-1 draw at Burnley last time out via an Arijanet Muric own goal.

Roberto De Zerbi's side played out a goalless draw at Brentford and blanked in a 3-0 loss to Arsenal in between those games, and one win in seven league outings has left them with a lot to do in the race for European qualification.

Man City, meanwhile, will be glad of the four full rest days afforded to them between Saturday's 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley and Thursday's trip to Sussex.

Citizens boss Pep Guardiola used his post-match press duties to speak out against what he perceives as unfair fixture scheduling, and the reigning Premier League champions don't have long until their next game after this either, with Nottingham Forest their next hosts on Sunday afternoon.

Team News

Brighton still have a fairly lengthy injury list containing Kaoru Mitoma, Jack Hinshelwood and Solly March, all of whom are unlikely to return before the end of the season.

Julio Enciso, Tariq Lamptey and Pervis Estupinan are also definitely out, while a further four could be absent on Thursday in James Milner, Evan Ferguson, Billy Gilmour and Adam Webster.

Man City fans are waiting anxiously to discover the availability of Erling Haaland, who was substituted against Real Madrid last Wednesday with an injury and subsequently missed Saturday's win.

Phil Foden is another major doubt for the visitors after missing training on Tuesday.

Ederson is likely to return in goal in place of Stefan Ortega and there could also be starts for Josko Gvardiol, Jeremy Doku and Mateo Kovacic.

Match Odds

Brighton are 5/1 to beat Man City for the first time since May 2021, giving them an implied win probability of 16.7%, while the reigning Premier League champions can be backed at 2/5 (71.4%). The draw, meanwhile, is available at 18/5.

Both teams to score is 8/13 and it's 4/9 for over 2.5 goals.

Man City to win & both teams to score @ 8/5

Both teams have scored in five of the last six Premier League meetings between Man City and Brighton, including October's reverse fixture, where first-half strikes from Julian Alvarez and Haaland put Guardiola's side in control before a consolation goal from Ansu Fati in the 73rd minute.

Both teams have scored in six of Brighton's eight matches against top-five clubs this term, with the Seagulls only failing to score against Arsenal (home and away).

This is a fixture City have dominated since Albion were promoted in 2017, winning 11 and losing just one of their 13 meetings in the Premier League, and I expect them to win on Thursday and do the double over their opponents.

The hosts can still finish in the European places and given their nature under Robert De Zerbi, are unlikely to sit back and soak up pressure, which should lend itself to an entertaining encounter at the Amex.

However, City should prove too strong in the end, with or without Haaland and Foden.

Under 9.5 total corners @ 1/1

Only four clubs average more corners per game (for/against) than City (10.9) in the Premier League this season, but they are a lot less common in matches involving Brighton, who average 9.4 corners per game (for/against).

There were only four corners at the Etihad in October - two apiece - and both games between the sides last season also produced fewer than 10 corners - six at the Amex and nine in Manchester.

This selection has also landed in four of Brighton's last six Premier League matches.

Betfred are running their famed Double Delight & Hat-trick Heaven offer on this match, meaning that if a player scores first and then nets again, you will be paid at double the odds. If he grabs a hat-trick, you will be paid at treble the odds!

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.