English Premier
2026-10-31 - Manchester City vs Brighton
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 31st October 2026 - Kick Off 3pm
Manchester City
Penalties were needed to get past Brighton in the League Cup Fourth Round, but Manchester City have gotten through and have a very winnable Quarter Final to be scheduled for December. Enzo Maresca will be glad to have seen his team progress just days after the unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign was ended at Villa Park and the manager will be looking for the squad to put in three big performances before the next international break.
Despite the defeat in the Midlands, Manchester City are still leading the Premier League standings, although they are now leading on goal difference after Arsenal beat Everton. The side have a perfect 4-0-0 record at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League and Manchester City have scored 11 goals and conceded 6 in those matches.
Manchester City did finish with a 2-2 draw during the week against Brighton before the Penalty Shoot Out success, but they had lost 2 of the previous 4 games in all competitions. They have played 8 home games in all competitions under Enzo Maresca and Manchester City have won 6 of those with the sole defeat coming against European Champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Matheus Nunes is a doubt and Antonine Semenyo is absent, but the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma, Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, Elliot Anderson and Erling Haaland were asked to take some time away to fully rest. All of those players should be involved this weekend and the manager is likely going to restore his starting eleven to a more familiar look.
Brighton
No one can take away the start Brighton have made to the season, but October looked like it was going to be a testing month with visits to Liverpool and Manchester City (twice). Fabian Hurzeler will be a little frustrated with the first two of those results over the last week, but the manager will be hoping his Brighton team can do a little better when playing at the Etihad Stadium for the second time in four days.
The 2-0 loss at Liverpool last weekend has not affected Brighton's League position as they remain 3rd in the standings and still 6 points behind leaders Manchester City. The Seagulls have a 2-0-2 away record in the Premier League where they have scored 10 goals and conceded 6.
Brighton have not won any of the last 3 games in all competitions and all of those have been played away from the Amex Stadium, although only 1 of those has ended in a defeat in normal time. They had won 3 in a row away from home in all competitions before the draw at Jablonec, the defeat at Anfield and the Penalty Shoot Out loss at this Stadium on Wednesday.
Injuries are beginning to clear up and both Mats Wieffer and Yankuba Minteh came off the bench on Wednesday. Ferdi Kadioglu and Femi Azeez are hoping to be available this weekend.
Head to Head
Manchester City came from behind twice in the 2-2 draw with Brighton in the League Cup Fourth Round during the week before the victory on Penalties.
That result in normal time means the last 3 at the Etihad Stadium between these two teams have all ended in draws.
Prediction
While both managers made changes in the League Cup Fourth Round tie on Wednesday, Brighton have to have gained plenty of confidence with the performance produced at the Etihad Stadium.
Ultimately it ended in failure, albeit on Penalties, but Brighton have not been beaten in normal time in any of the last 3 visits to this ground.
They lost 2-0 at Anfield last weekend, but Brighton did enough going forward to believe they could have earned a positive result with a bit more composure in the final third. Fabian Hurzeler will believe his team will earn plenty of points by producing a similar level consistently and Brighton will not be intimidated at this ground.
Instead they will try and play their football as usual, but this time they are facing a Manchester City team that have will have some key names restored to the starting lineup.
That includes Erling Haaland and he is the focus for the selection in what is a difficult match to call when it comes to the final result.
Manchester City will be looking to get back to winning ways following the 2-1 loss at Aston Villa last Saturday, but they have not been completely convincing at the Etihad Stadium this season. Opponents have arrived here and been able to express themselves, even if Manchester City have found the quality needed to just about turn things back in their own favour.
You can expect something similar from Brighton, but Erling Haaland has enjoyed playing this opponent and scored in each of the last 4 Premier League games against them. Not only that, but Erling Haaland has scored first in those last 4 matches against Brighton and he is well rested having been given the night off on Wednesday.
The striker has been producing in the final third and is likely going to be the focal point for Manchester City again and backing Erling Haaland to continue his dominant form against Brighton by opening the scoring has to be worthy of a small interest on Saturday afternoon.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Manchester City 3-1 Brighton
