Manchester City Odds as They Try to Take 1st Place

Manchester City returned to winning ways last week with a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth. They can overtake Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table briefly until Liverpool play Burnley at Turf Moor in the late kick-off at 17:30. 

Man City lost only once at home last season and even that was a surprise as that loss came against Crystal Palace via a wondergoal by Andros Townsend that was recently nominated for the FIFA Puskas Award (the best goal of the year). 

Brighton and Hove Albion are another team in the Premier League that have been under the thumb of Man City since they entered the Premier League in 2017. City holds a 100%-win rate against Brighton, just like they do against last week’s opponents, Bournemouth. 

Manchester City’s dominance at home in the Etihad Stadium coupled with their record against Brighton means that sportsbooks have City winning at an astounding -1100. Those odds are equivalent to a 91.7% chance of City winning the game. Should Brighton even turn up to the game according to those odds? ,

Sergio Aguero: Deadly Finisher

At 31 years of age, Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero is still at the top of his game as one of the best strikers in the world. Arguably, he is City’s greatest ever player and he’s certainly their record goalscorer with 235 goals in 341 games. 

With four goals already this season, Aguero is targeting his first Premier League Golden Boot in his career. It’s hard to believe he doesn’t have one but injuries, rest and record-breaking seasons from the likes of Luis Suarez and Mohamed Salah have combined to keep the Golden Boot away from Manchester. 

Aguero has scored in all three of his games against Brighton, converting all three of his shots on target. Sportsbooks has Aguero scoring at -175.  

His teammate Raheem Sterling is the joint top goalscorer so far this season with five goals tied with Norwich City’s Teemu Pukki. Sportsbooks has Sterling himself scoring at -167. 

Brighton has had a mixed start to the season, winning one, drawing one and losing their last game at home to Southampton 2-0. New manager Graham Potter has a tough task on his hands as he was brought in to improve the club and secure their long-term future as a Premier League club. Pep Guardiola’s imperious record against English managers in the league may mean that Potter will need to pull off a magic trick to get a result at the Etihad. 

Only one of Guardiola’s 32 top-flight losses has come against an English manager. That very loss was City’s only home loss in the Premier League last year against Crystal Palace with Roy Hodgson as manager. 

Manchester City is almost certain to win this game and it’s not a matter of how but by how many.