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The first in a two-game series takes place in the Carabao Cup fourth round on Wednesday night.
Manchester City take on Brighton & Hove Albion in one of the most intriguing ties of the entire Carabao Cup fourth round on Wednesday.
Taken in isolation, a clash between the Premier League leaders and the division’s top scorers is always going to be appointment viewing; however, the cup tie gives an intriguing added dimension, thanks to the fixture list. The two sides are up against each other, again at the Etihad, as soon as Saturday.
Brighton will stay in Manchester for the week, “recovering, adjusting, adapting” to use the mantra set forth by manager Fabian Hürzeler. Enzo Maresca has promised a similarly flexible approach for City, who could spice things up even more with some unpredictable rotation.
Both City and Brighton bounded into last weekend’s round of Premier League fixtures on a high. Maresca had won all seven top-flight matches, setting a new record in the process, while the Seagulls were soaring after four league wins by an aggregate score of 15–0. Both would have their bubbles burst despite not playing all that badly.
Maresca was left to curse two individual errors in Saturday’s defeat to Aston Villa. Hürzeler’s only criticism was for Liverpool’s pragmatic approach, pointing toward his side’s far superior statistics from an even encounter not reflected in the 2–0 scoreline.
These are two well-coached teams who are likely to produce a very entertaining encounter. Yet, the game could boil down to a matter of priorities. Brighton’s German coach has described the cup tie as “do-or-die” while Maresca shrugged it off as an option for some rotation. If both manager’s live up to their preview, the visitors could deliver another City loss.
Prediction: Man City 2–3 Brighton
Maresca’s team selection may very well have been made over the weekend. The Italian tactician gave five of his key first-team starters three days off so that they would “come back full energy and we go again.” How many of Erling Haaland, Rúben Dias, Joško Gvardiol, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Marc Guéhi start in midweek remains unclear.
Donnarumma is definitely on the bench, with cup goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli confirmed of a starting berth. Maresca defended Guéhi, who has been beset by a poor run of form since the charges against Manchester City were announced curiously enough, but may give his center back some respite.
Matheus Nunes is one of the few injury doubts alongside Antoine Semenyo, who will be sidelined for at least another seven weeks.
Man City predicted lineup vs. Brighton (4-2-3-1): Rulli; Lewis, Khusanov, Dias, Aït-Nouri; Bouaddi, Anderson; Ndiaye, O’Reilly, Doku; Foden.
It’s a mixed bag on the injury front for Brighton. Hürzeler has been mightily boosted by the return of Mats Wieffer and, for the first time this season, Yankuba Minteh, who are both set to travel with the squad. Whether either makes the starting XI is less clear.
Those returnees are balanced by doubts over Chema Andrés and Ferdi Kadıoğlu. The pair both suffered “very painful” during Sunday’s loss to Liverpool but remain in contention to feature against City.
Pascal Struijk and Kaoru Mitoma aren’t available.
Brighton predicted lineup vs. Man City (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Costinha, Vušković, Dunk, Boscagli; Groß, Hinshelwood; Gómez, Ayari, De Cuyper; Kostoulas.
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
| United States | Paramount+ |
| Canada | DAZN Canada, fuboTV Canada |
| Mexico | Disney+ Premium Mexico |
| United Kingdom | Sky Sports+ |
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Man City vs. Brighton: Preview, Predictions and Lineups.
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