Enzo Maresca has teased a whole host of changes for Manchester City’s Carabao Cup fourth round tie with Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday as a consequence of load management and, more intriguingly, mind games.
Erling Haaland, Rúben Dias, Joško Gvardiol, Marc Guéhi and Gianluigi Donnarumma were all given three days off after Saturday’s disappointing 2–1 defeat to Aston Villa. The idea was for this overworked quintet to “come back full energy and we go again,” as Maresca explained, but it’s not yet clear if the Italian coach will rush his stars back for the cup clash.
Maresca already confirmed that Donnarumma would be rested while opening up the prospect of multiple alterations to keep Brighton guessing. After all, City’s manager is not only naming a lineup with Wednesday’s fixture in mind, he also has to balance the Premier League clash against Brighton this coming Saturday.
“They [the two games] are so close so we need to make some changes,” Maresca warned. Quite how many changes is the question.
Man City Predicted Lineup vs. Brighton
GK: Gerónimo Rulli—It would appear that the Carabao Cup is Rulli's domain. “When he played some minutes, he was good and tomorrow [against Brighton], he’s going to play again,” Maresca promised.
RB: Rico Lewis—After a breakthrough 2024–25 season as a regular, Lewis had made just five Premier League starts since. Pep Guardiola’s explanation was pretty brutal. “If he was a little bit taller, he would be considered one of the best players in the Premier League,” the manager said of his 5'7" fullback.
CB: Abdukodir Khusanov—“Kodir is a war machine,” his former Lens coach Will Still gushed. City have found that to be the case.
CB: Rúben Dias—One of City’s vacationers could be forced to ditch the flip flops and line up at the Etihad.
LB: Rayan Aït-Nouri—The wriggling left back has only made one start all season despite being fit throughout. That solitary 90-minute outing was in the previous round of the Carabao Cup.
Pick Your Man City XI!
CM: Ayyoub Bouaddi—When Bouaddi won an oratory award as a 15-year-old in the Élysée Palace, he was debating the topic of result vs. style. The eloquent teenager convinced the 150 members of his enraptured audience in the grand ballroom that “the result is what you get, and in the end, it’s what you remember.”
CM: Elliot Anderson—The midfielder’s older brother, Wil, lasted 26 days in the Love Island villa when he appeared on the reality TV show in 2024. Elliot is aiming for a little more longevity in the spotlight at City.
RW: Iliman Ndiaye—“Giving up is not in my dictionary,” says a forward who has risen from the depths of non-league to the Champions League.
AM: Nico O’Reilly—Injury has hampered the young gem’s season thus far—no doubt as a consequence of his excursions for England at the World Cup—but his versatility could earn him a spot in this reshuffled setup.
LW: Jérémy Doku—During a tour of Liverpool’s facilities Doku and his father caused quite the stir. “We were talking about Chelsea quite often,” his dad recalled. “Liverpool were afraid that Jérémy would sign there instead. But we were just talking about our youngest daughter. Her name is Chelsea.” In the end, he signed for neither.
ST: Phil Foden—Despite Maresca’s best efforts, Erling Haaland can’t play every single minute. The Foden false nine experiment could get dusted off against Brighton to cover for the very real No. 9, especially considering his recent burst of form. Foden boasts four goals from his last two starts after going 10 months without once finding the net.
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