Brighton will be keen to put their disappointing December behind them when they take on Manchester City on Tuesday evening.
The Seagulls cruised to a 2-0 win against Burnley over the weekend, with Georginio Rutter and Yasin Ayari both on the score sheet, but they face a far tougher task when they head north to take on Pep Guardiola’s side.
City are in the heart of a title race but dropped points against both Sunderland and Chelsea in their last two fixtures, with Erling Haaland and Phil Foden failing to influence either draw. The duo have a good record against Brighton though, and they will be keen to end their respective ducks.
The Brighton Base takes a look at how the Seagulls are likely to line up at the Etihad Stadium…
Brighton predicted XI vs Manchester City (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper – Bart Verbruggen
The Dutchman only needed to make two saves to earn his fifth clean sheet of the season against Burnley, but he will have to work a lot harder to bag his sixth of the campaign on Tuesday night. The Seagulls have failed to keep a clean sheet against City since their promotion to the Premier League.
Defence – Joel Veltman, Jan Paul Van Hecke, Lewis Dunk, Ferdi Kadioglu
With Mats Wieffer still ruled out with a toe injury, Fabian Hurzeler’s backline continues to pick itself. Kadioglu is going from strength to strength in left-back, and thus it is hard to see the Turkey international dropped for the out-of-form Maxim De Cuyper.
Diego Coppola and Olivier Boscagli will therefore warm the bench once more, with the duo both expected to seek exits this month.
Midfield – Yasin Ayari, Diego Gomez, Georginio Rutter
It is no secret that City like to dominate possession with their patient build-up, and therefore Gomez’s energy and stamina is likely to see him retain his spot alongside Ayari in midfield. There is almost a sense of inevitability that James Milner will then come on towards the latter stages of the clash.
Rutter did enough against Burnley to justify another start as a No. 10, and the Frenchman will need to be at his very best to hold up play and bring his teammates into the picture up against the likes of Rodri and Foden in those central areas.
Attack – Brajan Gruda, Charalampos Kostoulas, Kaoru Mitoma
Hurzeler revealed that Yankuba Minteh is still not back to full fitness this week, which all but rules him out of the trip to Manchester. As a result, Gruda is likely to remain out on the right. The German has struggled in his last two outings, but he has impressed against Guardiola’s side previously.
Kostoulas lived up to the promise he showed in a number of late cameos over the weekend and could lead the line for the Seagulls once again. With Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and John Stones all ruled out, Hurzeler could opt for veteran Danny Welbeck up against the inexperienced City backline though.