Rodri's punishment will end in 1 more match against Brighton so I think this has also given Manchester City back a sense of security, it's just that for KDB it looks like Manchester City will have to wait longer.
The first 2 matches lost actually I think this is even though it is troublesome but it will not be a problem because they will stay on track, it's just that without Rodri and KDB against Brighton it is clear that this will again be a troublesome match especially with the absenc of a replacement and a suitable formation at this time and Brighton's strength which is currently quite good then this will be tiring again for Manchester City and this could also be disturbing for their points.
The experience Manchester City is going through due to the absence of Rodri and Kevin De Bruyn should be a lesson to them. There is a need to groom a replacement that can stand for them during their absence or buy some player. Pep Guardiola should also change his strategy because teams are now aware that without these two players, the team is highly deficient, so if I were a coach, De Bruyn and Rodri would be my main targets. Brighton has not been a good side in the past few games, they lost games against Chelsea and heavily against Aston Villa. But it was an impressive display in their last game against Liverpool when they were to secure a draw against a very well-fortified side. Coach Roberto De Zerbi has always proved tactically sound, so City should expect a good fight in Etihad.
This is always an obstacle for any strong team when a main player suffers an injury, Liverpool has experienced this. I am sure Pep Guardiola will have a consistent strategy when facing Brighton because their opponent will not be a team that cannot be beaten.
In fact, it could be said that this season Brighton is not as impressive as last season then because it was proven that he had experienced several quite crushing defeats.
Based on Head to Head, Manchester City is quite far ahead, and my prediction is that this will be a match where Manchester City will again score more than two goals because we know that Brighton is a team that is quite open in their game, they almost never use defensive play, so City will take advantage of this well and both teams are very likely to score goals because City's defense is often easily penetrated by opponents, so choosing yes on BTTS has the opportunity to make a profit in my opinion.