Manchester City attacking duo excluded from 20-man matchday squad to face Brighton | OneFootball

Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki have not been included in Manchester City’s matchday squad to face Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday afternoon.

City are looking to return to winning ways in the south coast after suffering their first defeat of the 2025-26 campaign against Tottenham last week, with Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha inflicting a 2-0 defeat on the 2023 treble winners at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola has made four changes to his starting XI to face Brighton, with Matheus Nunes, Abdukodir Khusanov, Rodri and Bernardo Silva replacing Rico Lewis, Ruben Dias, Nico Gonzalez and Rayan Cherki from last week’s line-up.

City cannot afford a lousy start to their Premier League campaign if they are serious about mounting a genuine challenge in this season’s title race, with Arsenal and Liverpool stronger than ever after stellar transfer windows.

Dias and Lewis struggled last week against Tottenham, with Guardiola ringing the changes in his backline as Manchester City look to return to winning ways ahead of tricky games against Manchester United, Napoli and Arsenal.

City have a day-and-a-half remaining in the transfer window to make last-minute signings, with uncertainty surrounding the future(s) of Ederson and Manuel Akanji – both of whom have made the bench against Brighton.

Stefan Ortega Moreno and Kalvin Phillips are also expected to complete permanent moves away before the 7PM (UK) deadline on Monday, with Manchester City bosses reportedly eyeing any possible openings in the final days of the transfer window.

Guardiola remains relaxed, however, and the Spaniard’s focus will as always remain on the current crop of players at his disposal, with the Manchester City manager awaiting the return of Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Marcus Bettinelli, Foden and Cherki to full fitness.

Ahead of the 13:30 UK kick-off on Sunday, it can be confirmed that Foden and Cherki have not made Manchester City’s 20-man matchday squad to face Brighton, with the former still working his way to full fitness and the latter understood to have suffered an injury in the days leading to the trip.

Foden came off the bench against Tottenham and was deemed available for selection by Guardiola in the days leading to the trip to Brighton, though the 25-year-old England international has not made the official matchday squad. It is worth noting however, as with Cherki, that this doesn’t categorically mean that Foden has not travelled.

Cherki suffered a thigh injury earlier in the week and after making his full Manchester City competitive debut against Tottenham last week, the 22-year-old signing from Lyon has not made the squad and is much likelier than Foden to have not journeyed to the south coast altogether.

Guardiola has indicated prior to kick-off that Cherki will be out for “a little bit longer”, as quoted by Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News. It remains to be seen when Manchester City fans can expect the return of Foden to the starting XI.