Man City v Brighton – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

City have won eight of their last 10 matches but face a defensive crisis. Brighton ended a six-match winless run last time out.

Match: Man City v Brighton
When: Wednesday, 07 Jan 2026

Man City Form

City’s last 10 matches have seen eight wins and two draws. After two shock losses, they won 3-2 at home vs Leeds and 5-4 at Fulham, having led 5-1. They beat Sunderland 3-0 and gave a strong display to beat Real Madrid 2-1 in Spain. City won 3-0 at Crystal Palace despite being outshot 16-7 after that.

Three more wins followed, starting with a 2-0 home win over Brentford in the Carabao Cup. They beat West Ham 3-0 and won 2-1 at Nottingham Forest after an 83^rd-minute winner. City could only draw 0-0 at Sunderland with 2.24 xG. On Sunday, they conceded in the 94^th minute to draw 1-1 at home to Chelsea.               

Man City Team News

Pep Guardiola have a depleted defence. John Stones, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol are all injured and Rayan Ait-Nouri is on international duty.

Omar Marmoush is away at the AFCON with Egypt and Mateo Kovacic will play no part. Nico Gonzalez should return the squad. Nathan Ake and Abdukodir Khusanov are set to play in central defence.

Man City Motivation

City have fallen six points behind Arsenal after successive draws. This is a must-win match and a draw would feel like a defeat.

Guardiola’s side can’t play an open game with their depleted defence and Rodri’s lack of match fitness. They will try to control the spaces and Brighton’s counters.

Brighton Form

The Seagulls have won just once in their last seven matches. Before that, it was one loss in seven as they closed the gap to the top four. A 1-1 home draw vs West Ham saw 22 shots. A 2-0 loss at Liverpool came despite putting up 1.90 xG. They could only draw 0-0 at home to Sunderland after that.

A deserved 2-1 loss at Arsenal saw Brighton outshot 24-8 with 3.08 xG conceded. After drawing 2-2 at West Ham, they got back to winning ways. On Saturday, a dominant display saw a 2-0 home victory over Burnley.     

Brighton Team News

Solly March and Adam Webster are out with long-term injuries. Mats Wieffer misses out at right back for this match.

Carlos Baleba is away on AFCON duty with Cameroon. Yankuba Minteh is an injury doubt, but he should pass a fitness test to play.

Brighton Motivation

The Seagulls will go to City and try to win the match. A draw is a good result too.

Brighton will see a depleted City defence and look to exploit the absences with an attacking display.

Key Stats

• Man City have won 8 of their last 10 matches (24 goals scored)
• Man City’s Haaland has scored 39 goals in his last 32 matches for club and country
• Brighton have won just 1 of their last 7 matches
• Brighton have conceded 11 goals in their last 7 matches

Verdict

City may have a weakened defence, but they’re back to win this one with both sides on target.

Featured Bet: Man City win, both teams to score and Erling Haaland to score anytime at 2.70

Goalscorer Tip: Erling Haaland to score 2 or more goals at 3.20