Brighton vs Man City Prediction and Betting Tips

Adam Boath (@StudsUpOlly) is in the hotseat for Saturday evening's live match where Brighton host Manchester City.

Brighton vs Man City | Saturday 23rd October 2021, 17:30 | SkySports

Round 9 of the EPL where Brighton welcome City to the Amex Stadium looking to maintain there positive start to the season where they sit in the lofty position of 4th just 2pts behind their billionaire visitors.

I am going to go down the cards route for this one where I have two plays I feel hold value based on how I see the hosts playing this out.

We all know City’s credentials and I think given the width Brighton hold with their marauding full backs there is opportunity for City to play their passing game and expose their lack of pace in that Brighton back line. Whilst Brighton’s back line has been solid so far they are yet to be majorly tested by any of the top 5 scoring sides in the league and tonight we see what level the back line is truly at.

I would imagine Brighton will try to use Veltman and Cucurella as best they can but both full backs will be under severe pressure if, as expected, both Grealish and Mahrez start. Veltman and Cucurella both have been brilliant for the hosts but both are not shy to a tackle or a card and given the reputation of both City players along with the likes of Foden, KDB and Silva this Brighton team will be drawn into a lot of fouls if they want to claim any points from this one.

In terms of stats, Brighton rank top for cards after 8 games with 22 yellows (2.75 per game average) and are currently averaging 19.9 tackles per game, that average makes them top again for tackles and 3rd when broken down to home sides.

Couple the above with City stats where on the road they appear to expose sides a lot, they rank 2nd for shots per game at 17.5 and 3rd for dribbles per game at 12. It’s got the making for a good game but one where City will look to pull and stretch the Seagulls as much as possible and if it ends up close the further back Brighton will go as time goes on and they will get desperate in their attempts to get points from the game.