Manchester City predicted starting XI to face Brighton | OneFootball

After cruising to a 5-1 victory in midweek against Club Brugge in the Champions League, Manchester City are back in Premier League action this evening with a trip to face Brighton & Hove Albion, who are currently just two points behind Pep Guardiola’s side in the league table.

Ahead of the match at the Amex Stadium, it appears that only Ferran Torres will miss the game for City due to a foot injury.

Taking this into account, here’s how we feel City could line up later this evening to take on Graham Potter’s high-flying Seagulls.

In goal, we think Guardiola will stick with Ederson after he returned to the side in midweek, despite Zack Steffen managing to keep a clean sheet in his absence in their 2-0 win over Burnley after the 28-year-old was involved with Brazil shortly before their previous Premier League outing.

In defence, we think City should stick with the same back four which started against Brugge, with Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker – who were both on the scoresheet in midweek – occupying the full-back roles, and Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte in the middle.

In midfield, with Guardiola praising the pairing of Bernardo Silva and Rodri after the Burnley game, we feel that he will stick with these two against Brighton, with Kevin De Bruyne alongside the duo after the Belgian picked up an assist against Brugge.

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For City’s attacking front three, we think Gabriel Jesus, currently valued at £54m by Transfermarkt, will return to the starting XI after being an unused substitute in midweek, potentially to get him fully ready for this game ahead of Riyad Mahrez, despite the Algerian scoring two goals on Tuesday.

Finally, we think Jack Grealish and Phil Foden – who both also impressed against Brugge – will keep their places in the team to see if they can help City secure another win and move closer to the top of the Premier League table.

Given how close the two teams are in the table, we feel that this is a must-win game for the Citizens to avoid any potential doubts over their capability to defend their title this season.