Football tips: No sweat for Man City as Brighton head to the Etihad on Wednesday

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widget, while in-copy odds are accurate at time of publication but subject to change

It’s tough sledding if you’re a Brighton fan at the moment. Now, you may pull me up and argue that they’re not in the bottom three, have only lost one of their last five Premier League games and have netted five times in their last three games in the league to boot.

And you’d be right. But that’s exactly my point – what are you even entitled to complain about? It’s not looked pretty at times. It’s not enjoyable to watch and none of the results are either crippling enough to warrant a reset nor impactful enough to start a run of form.

This has all the trademarks of death by a thousand cuts and I think Brighton fans know this – it’s just that you’ve got no quantifiable evidence to push your point.

Wednesday, 6.00pm: Manchester City v Brighton & Hove Albion
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With City, they’ve got a couple of games in hand on Liverpool, with three home games in a week coming up – against Brighton, Palace and Villa. This could well be the run that sees them turn favourites to regain their crown.

Surely Brighton won’t offer much resistance? Here are three of the best wagers ahead of this apparent mismatch.

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Both Teams to Score

If I can say one thing in defence of Brighton, it’s that their away form is considerably better than their showings at home this season. Nine of their fourteen points in this campaign have come on the road, having scored at least twice in four of their eight visits to opposing sides.

Moving the ball at pace certainly aids Brighton and given the fact that it will be their only possible outlet at the Etihad, expect them to carve out a few half chances at least. City haven’t played the same back four in consecutive Premier League games in some time, and those levels of inconsistency can cause complacency.

I know we like doom and gloom, but Brighton have scored three more goals than Arsenal this year and only three fewer than their opponents in Eastlands – admittedly with two games fewer played, but still.

John Stones to Score Anytime

Here are a select list of players who have scored against Brighton this season; Romain Saiss, Ben Johnson, Tomas Soucek, Jannik Vestergaard, Ezri Konsa, Yerry Mina, Kurt Zouma.

What do they all have in common? They’re all defenders or, in Tomas Soucek’s case – a lunatic: correct. Brighton might be the softest in the entire league against opposing centre-halves or ‘big men’ and it shows up time and time again. If you take away penalties, own goals and headers, then really Brighton are as good as Liverpool defensively.

TRADER VIEW: Paddy’s top number-cruncher on City v Brighton

Brighton – Over 20 Booking Index Points

I understand the logic behind the price, but teams playing Man City generally notch up points in this sector due to the amount of late tackles they put in, given the tempo City adopt. Brighton may be going through a clean patch at the moment – not having amassed more than a couple of bookings in any of their last five league counters, but they’re the sixth-dirtiest team in the Premier League on the Fair Play rankings.

Only Arsenal and West Brom have had as many players dismissed this season as Brighton, and that’s worth some of your money.

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widget, while in-copy odds are accurate at time of publication but subject to change

Manchester City v Brighton tips

Both Teams to Score
John Stones to Score Anytime
Brighton – Over 20 Booking Index Points

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