Mateo Kovacic has been assuming the “Rodri role” since the Spaniard’s season-ending knee injury and the 30-year-old has committed seven fouls in his last seven Premier League runouts combined for City.

Kovacic holds a modest 0.80 fouls per 90 minutes figure for the campaign, though that average is expected to climb the longer he fills in for Rodri at the base of City’s midfield.

The Croatian gave away two free kicks against Sporting in midweek and a similar tally looks possible against a dangerous Brighton outfit on Saturday.

Midweek penalty-missing villain, Erling Haaland has scored just once in his last five Premier League appearances for City, however, his underlying stats remain impressive and the Norwegian has had at least two shots on target in seven of his last eight appearances for City.

Haaland tops the pile in the Premier League for total shots on target mustered since August (27) and the 24-year-old is still one of the best-supplied forwards in the division. The ponytailed poacher represents excellent value to register at least two accurate strikes again at Brighton.

With a light frame and quick feet, Phil Foden has all of the required attributes to be a foul-drawing machine and the England regular, who has been fouled 2.44 times per 90 minutes in the Premier League so far this term, could invite more mistimed challenges from his markers on Saturday.

Only Rico Lewis (12) has drawn more fouls for City in the league than Foden this season and the versatile attacker was fouled a game-high four times when he last turned out for the champions at the Amex Stadium in April. Foden has a superb record against Brighton, so look for the Albion defenders to single him out for rough treatment again.

Summer signing Savinho still hasn’t opened his account for City, though he rarely passes up an opportunity to let fly and the Brazilian has been averaging 2.58 shots per 90 minutes in the Premier League since his switch to Manchester from Troyes.

Savinho had a massive six shots in City’s 4-1 loss to Sporting in the Champions League in midweek and the 20-year-old’s penchant for cutting in and shooting with his left foot could be a feature of the Cityzens’ clash with Brighton. The wide attacker, who seems desperate to break his duck, is backed to clock at least two shots against the Seagulls.

Ecuadorian defender Pervis Estupinan was rattling into tackles in Brighton’s defeat to Liverpool last weekend and the 26-year-old somehow avoided picking up a yellow card despite committing a lofty eight fouls against the Reds at Anfield.

Estupinan has been averaging 2.08 fouls per 90 minutes in the Premier League overall this season and the tough tackler is likely to be in the thick of the action again against a Manchester City frontline laced with foul-drawing expertise on Saturday. Back the no-nonsense left back to commit at least another two fouls at a generous price here.

Evergreen veteran striker Danny Welbeck has been in terrific early-season form for Brighton, netting an impressive six times in ten Premier League appearances so far and the ex-Man Utd starlet would love to extend his purple patch against City on Saturday.

Welbeck has a knack for raising his game in high-profile matches for the Seagulls and the 33-year-old has already been a nuisance against Man Utd, Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool this term, hitting at least one shot on target in his outings against each of those big hitters.

Welbeck could be a similarly troublesome presence against a City defence missing influential pair John Stones and Ruben Dias, and the Brighton man is taken to have at least another effort on target.

Joel Veltman is a reliable foul-market performer and the Dutch defender is an easy addition to dockets in the 1+ foul bracket again on Saturday. At 32, Veltman lacks the pace to match the acceleration of the wingers he marks and he tends to use fouls as a defensive deterrent.

Indeed, Veltman has committed at least one foul in each of his nine Premier League appearances for Brighton and he gave away two free kicks against Liverpool at Anfield last weekend. His struggles on Merseyside suggest that Veltman might find the going just as tough in another challenging assignment against Man City, and a single foul looks like a reasonable target with that in mind.

Phil Foden has been the scourge of the Seagulls over the last three years and this weekend, the forward will be aiming to score for City for the fifth time in a row at the Amex Stadium against Brighton.

Foden hit two of City’s four goals when the champions cantered to a 4-0 win over Albion on the south coast in April and the 24-year-old has fired a whopping eight goals past Brighton since January 2021 overall.

Indeed, no player has scored more goals against Brighton during the club’s time in the Premier League, with Harry Kane (seven) coming closest. We’re backing Foden to shine against the Seagulls again on Saturday.