Brighton v Manchester City: Premier League betting preview, free tip & TV

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Brighton v Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday.

Where to watch

Sky One, Sky Sports Premier League, Main Event & Pick, 8pm Saturday

Best bet

Man City to win & both teams to score
1pt 7-4 general

Team news

Brighton
Jose Izquierdo and Steven Alzate are expected to be sidelined for the Seagulls. Steven Alzate could return after injury.

Manchester City
Sergio Aguero remains out for City, who otherwise have a fully-fit squad.

Match preview

Any other Premier League outfit knowing they were all but guaranteed to remain in their current position with four games left would likely take their foot off the pedal but Pep Guardiola will be keen for his Manchester City side to maintain elite levels of performance.

Points will do nothing for City‘s league position but continuing to win games will be to their advantage as they prepare for an FA Cup semi-final encounter with Arsenal and the final stages of the Champions League.

There has been no drop-off in motivation levels recently, with the Citizens smashing Liverpool 4-0 and Newcastle 5-0 either side of an unfortunate defeat to Southampton in a game they really should have won.

Guardiola’s side won the shot count 25-7 at St Mary’s, saw 74 per cent of the ball and lost only by virtue of a superb Che Adams strike from near the halfway line.

There are certainly issues to address throughout the team - their tally of nine league defeats this season is more than the last two campaigns combined - but, given Guardiola’s ruthless mentality, teams should still expect to play a fully-focused City unit.

That is not good news for Brighton, who are fresh from losing 3-1 to champions Liverpool on Wednesday and must now tackle the league’s likely runners-up only three days later.

The Seagulls have pulled away from the relegation zone with wins over Arsenal and Norwich and draws with Wolves and Leicester since the restart and they are not far from securing top-flight football for another season.

When considering the decline of Bournemouth this term and the fate of an Aston Villa side who forked out more than £150 million last summer, that should be considered an achievement after they had to deal with a change of manager and system at the start of the campaign.

Their goal tally may not reflect it but Brighton have played like a more attacking side under Graham Potter this season.

Although they have netted only 36 goals, their expected goals tally, which is the tenth best in the division, is 8.38 higher than that, suggesting they are creating the openings but maybe lack the ruthlessness in the attacking third to convert them.

They have failed to score in only five of their 17 home league assignments this season and have breached Liverpool and Arsenal’s defences at the Amex since the league resumed.

They also netted in home matches with Wolves and Chelsea this season as well as spanking Tottenham 3-0 on the south coast in October and should be fancied to get on the scoresheet.

The absence of Aymeric Laporte for most of the season has been pinpointed as a reason why City have been so far off the pace and there is no denying they have defensive deficiencies to sort out.

Their tally of 34 goals conceded is worse than those of Leicester City (32), Manchester United (33) and Sheffield United (33) and the cost of their swashbuckling style at times has been a vulnerability at the back.

With that in mind and given that Brighton can start to play with a bit more freedom, suiting the likes of Leandro Trossard and Pascal Gross, a solid bet could be to back a Manchester City win and both teams to score.

Key stat

Brighton have scored in three of their five home matches against top-six opposition in the Premier League.

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