Brighton vs Manchester City Prediction, Preview, Predicted Lineups and Team News | Premier League 2025

• Tournament: Premier League 2025/26
• Date: Sunday, 31st August 2025
• Kick-off Time: 13:00 PM GMT
• Venue: Amex Stadium, Brighton

Brighton & Hove Albion are desperate to pick up their first win of the 2025/26 Premier League season when they face off against an angry Manchester City side on Sunday afternoon. The Brighton vs Manchester City clash will take place at the Amex Stadium and should be a highly entertaining, end-to-end battle between these two teams. Here is our Brighton vs Manchester City preview.

For Brighton & Hove Albion, it's been a pretty shaky start to the new campaign. After enjoying a relatively solid preseason campaign, they have failed to win their first two matches of the 2025/26 Premier League campaign and are in 18th place with just one point to their name. However, their recent 6-0 thrashing of Oxford United in the Carabao Cup helped them pick up some momentum.

Fabian Hurzeler will be urging his side to find their swagger in the key attacking areas for them to really take the fight to the former Premier League champions. He will, of course, need them to be defensively much stronger than recent games, but will urge his players to be prolific on the counterattacks to torment the visitors and produce an impressive performance. Manchester City will be determined to get back to winning ways in the Premier League in their second away game of the campaign. They have had a topsy-turvy start to the campaign, having picked up three points from two games, and are currently in sixth place in the Premier League table. They have, although, scored 15 goals in their last five games and aim to regain that momentum against Brighton. Pep Guardiola will want his side to put the Tottenham defeat behind them and get their groove back in this upcoming game. He'll need his side to be defensively much more stubborn, especially with their passing, and urge his players to be innovative and clinical in the final third to get all three points.

Brighton & Hove Albion Team News

Fabian Hurzeler is dealing with quite a few injury issues within his squad. Solly March (knee) and Julio Encisco (knee) are both out of action with injuries, while Adam Webster has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. However, he will be sweating on the fitness of Georginio Rutter for the upcoming game against Manchester City, as Rutter must pass a fitness test.

Manchester City Team News

Pep Guardiola has his own share of injury troubles to deal with heading into this game. Mateo Kovacic is still out of action until October with a calf injury, while Rayan Ait Nouri is also out with a knee injury. The likes of Savinho, Josko Gvardiol, and Claudio Echeverri could, however, return to the squad for this game.

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City Predicted Lineups

Here are our Brighton vs Manchester City predicted lineups.

Brighton & Hove Albion Predicted Lineup (4-2-3-1):

Goalkeeper: Bart Verbruggen

Defenders: Mats Wieffer, Jan Paul van Hecke, Lewis Dunk, Fedri Kadoglu

Midfielders: Carlos Baleba, Jack Hinshelwood, Matt O'Riley

Forwards: Yankuba Minteh, Kaoru Mitoma, Danny Welbeck

Manchester City Predicted Lineup (4-2-3-1):

Goalkeeper: James Trafford

Defenders: Rico Lewis, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Nico O'Reilly

Midfielders: Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Tijani Reijnders

Forwards: Oscar Bobb, Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City Head-to-Head Record

These two sides have faced each other on 34 occasions in the past. Out of that, Manchester City have won 21 times and Brighton have come out on top only seven times! In their last five meetings, Manchester City have won twice and Brighton have been able to secure one win.

Key Players to Watch in Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City

Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Kaoru Mitoma is yet to really get going for Brighton & Hove Albion this season, as he has been unable to contribute to any goals in the Premier League. The Japanese winger was impressive in the 2024/25 Premier League, scoring 10 goals by outperforming his 9.16 xG (expected goals). Mitoma will be eager to rediscover that form by tormenting the Manchester City backline with his trickery. He will be looking to trouble the defenders with his impressive dribbles, but Mitoma will be tasked with being prolific with his final third passes and taking his chances clinically to help his side get an edge over Manchester City.

Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

Erling Haaland has had a pretty good start to the 2025/26 Premier League with Manchester City, scoring two goals by slightly underperforming his 2.46 xG. Haaland will be determined to pick up his form after that drab loss to Tottenham and will be hungry to test himself against the shaky Brighton backline. He will look to link up smartly with his teammates to help drive them forward whenever possible, but Haaland will be tasked with actually getting to the end of chances and finishing them off efficiently to help the Cityzens get another big win on the road.

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City Prediction

The recent matches between these two sides have been highly entertaining affairs, filled with a lot of goals. Because of the attacking approaches of both teams and Brighton's counter-attacking threat, this upcoming clash should be a pretty eventful one as well. There should be plenty of chances for both teams, as they will be desperate to get back to winning ways. However, Brighton's current shaky form and Manchester City's quality in attacking options should help Guardiola's side fight their way to a compelling win. Here is our Brighton vs Manchester City prediction.

Predicted score: Brighton 1-3 Manchester City

Where to watch Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City Live?

Here, we look at the options for where to watch Brighton vs Manchester City live in key regions around the world.