**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 lineup.
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.
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.
**This is a developing story. More to follow.**