Manchester City welcome Brighton to the Etihad Stadium this weekend as they look to put an end to a poor run of form.

Brighton, who have picked up five wins from their first eight Premier League matches this season, will be aiming for their first win in five games in all competitions.

Here are all the key details ahead of Saturday’s match.

Manchester City vs Brighton – Premier League Match Preview:

Form

Manchester City: WLLWL

The champions made a strong start to the season by winning their first six games, but their fortunes have since took a drastic turn.

In City’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest last month, Rodri was sent off for violent conduct and subsequently missed the club’s following three domestic matches.

They have since played four times with their only victory coming in the UEFA Champions League against RB Leipzig – the only game Rodri started.

Julian Alvarez came off the bench to win it in Germany, while he also set up City’s third; the Argentine also netted an equaliser at Wolves, maintaining his hot start to the campaign. He already has three goals and three assists to his name in the league.

Our magic Argentine

Here's every goal from @julianalvarezzz so far this season pic.twitter.com/X4sjV6B145

— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 13, 2023

Elsewhere, the Blues crashed out of the Carabao Cup away at Newcastle, before succumbing to defeat at Wolves and losing a potentially huge match in the title race against Arsenal before the international break.

This slump in form has seen Pep Guardiola’s side slip to third in the Premier League table, with last season’s Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland coming under criticism.

The Catalan’s first-choice holding midfielder is back this weekend and he will be hoping that City’s form will turn around, but their task will be far from simple.

Brighton & Hove Albion: WLLDD

Guardiola himself has publicly spoken of his admiration for Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi, who has transformed the Seagulls since his appointment 13 months ago.

The Italian guided the club to a Europa League finish in his debut campaign, securing European football for Brighton for the very first time.

His free-flowing football has earned plaudits from all over, with the likes of Solly March, Pascal Groß and Kaoru Mitoma thriving on the south coast. Evan Ferguson could be their next star to go for big money; he’s already notched four league goals this term.

Evan is one of 20 @GoldenBoyAwards finalists! #GoldenBoy pic.twitter.com/AYoYRATIes

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) October 12, 2023

Having European football to contend with has made Brighton’s start far from plain-sailing – they’ve picked up just one point from matches against AEK Athens and Marseille – but big wins over Newcastle and Manchester United, and a point last time out against Liverpool, leave plenty of positives.

De Zerbi’s side showed great character to come back twice to claim 2-2 draws with Marseille and Liverpool, with scars from a damaging 6-1 defeat at Aston Villa still fresh.

Last Meeting

Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Manchester City, May 24th 2023

The last time these sides met came in the penultimate match of last season.

At this point, City had already wrapped up the Premier League title and seemed to be feeling in a celebratory mood, with Phil Foden scoring his sixth goal against Brighton early on (only Mo Salah (8) and Harry Kane (7) have scored more against them in the Premier League).

But minutes before half-time, Julio Enciso unleashed a rocket from distance which arrowed into the top corner beyond Stefan Ortega, levelling the scores.

That wonder strike from the Paraguayan won the Premier League’s Goal of the Season award and earned the point the hosts needed to secure qualification for the Europa League.

Predicted Lineups

Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; Rodri, Lewis, Bernardo; Foden, Alvarez, Haaland.

Brighton: Verbruggen; Veltman, Dunk, Van Hecke, March; Baleba, Groß, Adingra, Mitoma; Pedro, Ferguson.

Who is the referee?

Rob Jones.

Is Manchester City v Brighton on TV?

UK and Ireland: There is no live broadcast of the fixture in the UK and Ireland. You can listen to the game on BBC Radio 5 Live.

USA: fuboTV.

What time is kick-off?

Saturday, 21 October, 15:00 BST

Odds

Manchester City – 4/11

Draw – 9/2

Brighton – 6/1

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The post Manchester City vs Brighton – Premier League Match Preview first appeared on The Football Faithful.