By Ian King
Seagulls hovering
Brighton arrive in Manchester for this match in glorious type, with 4 straight wins within the Premier League and a spot within the FA Cup Quarter-Finals having been booked with a formidable win away to Newcastle United. Manchester Metropolis, in the meantime, have turn out to be the Premier League’s least constant group, having alternated between successful and dropping over their final 5 matches within the league.
Brighton searching for first win at Metropolis
That Brighton beat Metropolis 2-1 at The Amex earlier this season was a uncommon prevalence. The 2 golf equipment have met 16 instances since Abu Dhabi purchased Metropolis, and this was solely Brighton’s second win. Their solely different towards them got here on the finish of the 2020/21 season once they beat them 3-2 at The Amex. Previous to that, their final League win got here again in April 1989. Brighton have by no means received an away match towards Manchester Metropolis.
Key gamers
The difficulty with taking part in towards Brighton is that their targets can come from so many various sources. João Pedro has scored in his final three video games, however there’s additionally Kaoru Mitoma, Danny Welbeck, Yankuba Minteh and Georginio Rutter to should take care of. If Manchester Metropolis are to go on the entrance foot, the involvement of Omar Marmoush could possibly be essential. He was extremely spectacular in scoring a hat-trick towards Newcastle final month however hasn’t scored since.
Group Information
Effectively, at the least there haven’t been any additions to the Manchester Metropolis strolling wounded. Rodri, Nathan Ake, John Stones, Manuel Akaji and Oscar Bobb all stay on the long-term injured listing. Kevin De Bruyne, Mateo Kovačić and Omar Marmoush didn’t begin their 1-0 defeat towards Nottingham Forest, although they might characteristic this time round.
Brighton have a good lengthier harm listing. Joel Veltman ought to return quickly however might not be prepared in time for this one, whereas the identical goes for Lewis Dunk and Matthew O’Riley. All or any of these three could possibly be referred to as up for this one. Igor Junior, James Milner, Ferdi Kadıoğlu and Jason Steele are longer-term accidents.
Prediction
There are numerous conflicting elements which make attempting to make a prediction for this match really feel like peering via a very thick fog. There’s Manchester Metropolis’s inconsistency over latest matches, and the fug they’ve been in all season regardless. There’s Brighton’s abysmal document at The Etihad; it’s value declaring at this juncture that not solely have Brighton by no means received away there, however they’ve by no means drawn there both.
After which there’s the truth that though they’ve been spectacular of their final 5 video games, Brighton do have that trace of the unpredictable about them. Their final defeat previous to the beginning of their latest little run was that 7-0 routing at Nottingham Forest. However Brighton are solely some extent behind Metropolis, and even the lengthiest runs and not using a win will finish a while. So I’m going for a 3-2 Brighton win, although the rating could possibly be extra unlikely even than this.
(Cowl picture from IMAGO)
You may comply with each recreation from the Premier League with FotMob this season – that includes deep stats protection, xG, and participant rankings. Obtain the free app right here.