Brighton vs Manchester City Prediction, Lineups and Betting Tip Predictions

Brighton vs Manchester City Prediction, Lineups and Betting Tip

Match Details: August 31st, 2025 | The Amex Stadium, Brighton | Premier League

Brighton host Manchester City in Sunday’s Premier League action as both sides look to bounce back from damaging defeats last time out in the league. Brighton fell to defeat in Everton's first ever home game at their new stadium, while City were once again struck down by Spurs, the eighth time the White’s have beaten the Cityzens since Pep Guardiola took charge.

Brighton did manage to make a comeback of sorts from that result in mid-week, as they beat Oxford United 6-0 in the second round of the Carabao Cup, while City have had a week long break to prepare for this fixture.

Key Betting Tip: Both Teams to Score at odds of 1.52 on Kwiff represents excellent value for the tip provided by our in-house tipsters.

Brighton vs Manchester City Predicted Lineups

Brighton Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Bart Verbruggen (GK); Ferdi Kadioglu, Lewis Dunk, Jan Paul van Hecke, Joel Veltman; Yasin Ayari, Carlos Baleba; Kaoru Mitoma, Brajan Gruda, Yankuba Minteh; Danny Welbeck.

Though they didn’t necessarily deserve to lose against Everton, poor finishing ensured that the Seagulls paid for their profligacy, as Everton were cool and clinical up the other end. Maxim De Cuyper struggled with the pace of the game, and should be replaced for this one, and Brajan Gruda should take the place of out of form Matt O’Riley.

In terms of injuries, Brighton have already been hit heavily this season - Julio Enciso, Tariq Lamptey, Solly March, Georginio Rutter and Adam Webster are all doubtful ahead of kick-off.

Manchester City Predicted XI (4-1-4-1): James Trafford (GK), Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Rico Lewis; Rodri; Jeremy Doku, Omar Marmoush, Tijjani Reijnders, Oscar Bobb; Erling Haaland.

After a shock loss to Tottenham last time out, Pep Guardiola will think twice before experimenting against European dark horses. Despite dominating possession, Tottenham had the better of the game, and a relatively weak rotated lineup meant that there was too much of an uphill battle for City when their stronger subs entered the field of play.

We expect some strong changes here, although there are some notable absences - Savinho and Mateo Kovacic are out, while both Josko Gvardiol and Rayan Ait-Nouri leave City’s let back position void; Nathan Ake will likely have to do a makeshift job in this game.

Brighton vs Manchester City Current League Standings

After two league games apiece, Brighton somewhat surprisingly find themselves in the drop zone, having taken just one point out of six so far. City, after their opening day thumping of Wolves, have three points to their name, and so sit sixth, just behind Nottingham Forest.

Brighton vs Manchester City Head to Head Timeline

Manchester City have a dominant record in this fixture - since 2017, the two sides have played on 17 occasions, and City have emerged as victors a remarkable 13 times. Brighton have eked out just two wins in this time, and a further two draws.

Recent Head to Head Meetings:

• 15/03/2025: Manchester City 2-2 Brighton
• 09/11/2024: Brighton 2-1 Manchester City
• 25/04/2024: Brighton 0-4 Manchester City
• 21/10/2023: Manchester City 2-1 Brighton
• 24/05/2023: Brighton 1-1 Manchester City

Despite the historic one-sided nature of this fixture, Brighton actually came out on top of City in their head to head record last season, winning the home leg and drawing at the Etihad.

City must look back to April 2024 in order to find their last victory over the Seagulls, when a Phil Foden brace sandwiched between goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Julian Alvarez sealing an easy 4-0 victory.

Brighton vs Manchester City Recent Match Analysis

Brighton Last Five Games:

• Oxford United 0-6 Brighton (Carabao Cup)
• Everton 2-0 Brighton (Premier League)
• Brighton 1-1 Fulham (Premier League)
• Brighton 2-1 Wolfsburg (Club Friendly)
• Southampton 2-2 Brighton (Club Friendly)

Though there is no doubt plenty of disappointment around the AMEX Stadium after their defeat to Everton, it must be remembered that it was Brighton’s first defeat since April - they had been on a run of 10 games (including friendlies) without defeat prior to their visit to the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Their response, a 6-0 dismissal of Oxford United, was exactly what was needed - ruthless, clinical and unyielding, the result would have been a big morale boost to the side, something any side definitely needs before heading to the Etihad.

Manchester City Last Five Games:

• Manchester City 0-2 Tottenham (Premier League)
• Wolves 0-4 Manchester City (Premier League)
• Palermo 0-3 Manchester City (Club Friendly)
• Manchester City 3-4 Al-Hilal (Club World Cup Last 16)
• Juventus 2-5 Manchester City (Club World Cup Group Stage)

After such a comprehensive opening day win, many were calling for City to be labelled as one of the favourites for the title yet again - however, a loss to their eternal bogey team in Tottenham showed that after last season, there is still plenty of room for improvement.

It must be said that the City squad does not seem to boast the same star-power as it did earlier on in the Pep Guardiola reign, but with a little time still left in the transfer window, we think it likely that Pep is keeping an eye out for a marquee signing.

Brighton vs Manchester City Prediction

Our advanced algorithm analyses over 200 data points to generate these predictions, and as a result has deduced that there is a 63.3% certainty that both sides will find the net here, with four of their last five meetings ending in such a manner. The model factors in current form, head-to-head records, player availability and tactical matchups.

Brighton vs Manchester City Betting Tip

Football Park’s Best Bet: Both Teams to Score at odds of 1.52 on Kwiff - Despite their goalless showing against Everton, Brighton are a high tempo, high pressing team that always force a mistake or two out of their opponents. And Manchester City - well, they are coached by Pep Guardiola, so of course they’ll score. Moreover, they have never failed to score against Brighton.

Players to Watch: Brighton vs Manchester City

Carlos Baleba (Brighton): Although he may not have kicked into gear yet this season, interest from various clubs for a £100 million plus fee tends to distract anyone, no matter their profession. There is no doubting Baleba’s importance to Hurzeler’s team - he will be Brighton’s main man when it comes to breaking up play behind Haaland. Marmoush and Reijnders will need to be on top form if they are to bypass the Cameroonian.

Erling Haaland (Manchester City): Despite firing a blank against Spurs last time out, Haaland showed that he hadn’t missed a step in pre-season with two typically Haaland-esque finishes against Wolves. Always in the right place at the right time, and able to swat defenders off like flies, there is no defence in the world that can reliably contain the Norwegian - he will once again be City’s main route to goal here.

Stadium Details: The AMEX Stadium, home of Brighton, is one of the newer Premier League grounds, having been played in for the first time in just 2011. Capable of holding more than 31 ‘000 people, the arena provides a brilliant, compact, atmospheric setting for a game which could have huge ramifications for both teams.