Man City team news vs Brighton and predicted lineup | OneFootball

Manchester City will be looking to move into the Premier League‘s top four when they host Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday at 3pm.

Man City predicted lineup vs Brighton

Man City (4-1-4-1): Ederson; Nunes, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol; Gonzalez; Savinho, Silva, Foden, Marmoush; Haaland

Man City fell out of the top four last week but can go straight back into the guaranteed Champions League places with a win at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola’s side have won three and lost three of their past six games, trading victories with defeats.

They did lose their last home league game, but haven’t lost back-to-back Premier League matches at the Etihad since May 2021.

Man City team news vs Brighton

Injuries have started to pick up once against for Man City, though there aren’t any fresh absences. The Citizens are without three centre-backs due to injury, with Manuel Akanji, John Stones and Nathan Ake all out for at least another six weeks.

So, Guardiola doesn’t have much by way of options, with Ruben Dias and Abdukodir Khusanov guaranteed starters — unless he decides to throw Vitor Reis in. The back four and goalkeeper as a whole should remain the same from the defeat to Nottingham Forest, with Matheus Nunes at right-back over Rico Lewis.

In midfield, Rodri remains out long-term even if there are slim hopes of him being available for the final weeks of the season. So Nico Gonzalez and Mateo Kovacic continue to vie for the holding midfield role. Gonzalez has been the favoured choice since his move, so should continue there.

We may see a change in the attack. Last week Omar Marmoush dropped to the bench in the Premier League for the first time since moving. But the Egyptian could return to the starting lineup at Jeremy Doku’s expense.

Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Savinho are likely to make up the rest of the attacking midfield set up. But the likes of Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Doku will all be challenging.

Of course, Erling Haaland will lead the line. With a free week behind them and the international break ahead, there’s little need for Guardiola to rotate.

Haaland chasing history

Haaland making history is something that fans have grown accustomed to since he joined Man City. But it feels like we haven’t had a historic moment from the Norwegian for a while. That could end this weekend, if Haaland brings his shooting boots.

Haaland has been directly involved in 99 goals in the Premier League, scoring 83 and providing 16 assists. Since he joined the Premier League, only Mo Salah (103) has been directly involved in more goals than Haaland.

But, Haaland’s 99 goal involvements have come in 93 games, since the start of his Premier League career. No player in the league’s history has hit 100 goal involvements in under 100 games. Haaland has six games to become the first.

He does have a good chance of breaking that record against Brighton. The Norwegian has been directly involved in five goals in four games against Brighton in the Premier League. Three of those have come at the Etihad, with Haaland scoring in both of his home appearances against the Seagulls.

Against Brighton, Haaland has averaged 4.63 shots per 90 minutes in the Premier League, with 2.06 on target and 0.77 big chances scored. He’s also posted an Expected Goals total of 1.0, dropping slightly to 0.95 xG on Target. And 0.8 of his xG comes without penalties.