City vs Brighton: Preview, Predictions and Lineups for Carabao Cup Clash

A quick rematch at the Etihad

The Premier League leaders face the division’s top scorers in a fourth-round tie that carries an unusual sequel: City and Brighton play each other at the same stadium again on Saturday. Brighton will remain in Manchester during the week, following Hürzeler’s approach of “recovering, adjusting, adapting.” Both teams entered last weekend after impressive league stretches, but each lost. City’s seven-match top-flight winning run ended against Aston Villa, while Brighton’s four consecutive league wins—by an aggregate 15–0—were followed by a 2–0 defeat to Liverpool.

Different priorities for the cup

City and Brighton are regarded as well-coached sides, setting up the possibility of an entertaining match. Their approaches may differ, however: Hürzeler described the tie as “do-or-die,” while Maresca suggested rotation could be an option.

Since the beginning of the 2024–25 season, City have beaten 21 of the 22 different top-flight teams they have faced. Brighton are the exception.

City selection and fitness questions

Maresca gave five regular starters three days off over the weekend, saying they would “come back full energy and we go again.” It remains uncertain how many of Erling Haaland, Rúben Dias, Joško Gvardiol, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Marc Guéhi will start. Donnarumma is set for the bench, with Gerónimo Rulli confirmed to start in goal.

Matheus Nunes is among City’s injury doubts, while Antoine Semenyo is expected to be sidelined for at least another seven weeks. The predicted City formation is 4-2-3-1: Rulli; Lewis, Khusanov, Dias, Aït-Nouri; Bouaddi, Anderson; Ndiaye, O’Reilly, Doku; Foden.

Brighton returnees and doubts

Mats Wieffer and Yankuba Minteh are set to travel with Brighton after returning to fitness. Whether either player starts is uncertain. Chema Andrés and Ferdi Kadıoğlu are also in contention despite suffering “very painful” injuries during Sunday’s loss to Liverpool. The predicted Brighton formation is 4-2-3-1: Verbruggen; Costinha, Vušković, Dunk, Boscagli; Groß, Hinshelwood; Gómez, Ayari, De Cuyper; Kostoulas.