Gary Neville knew Brighton had a chance at beating Manchester City on Sunday the moment he looked at the team sheets.
Pep Guardiola’s men were beaten at the Amex Stadium courtesy of a late goal from Brajan Gruda, which makes it back-to-back defeats for the Manchester club very early in the campaign, leaving the 54-year-old with a lot of work to do over the international break.
Paul Merson predicted a draw between Brighton and Man City, but the majority of people were expecting the Citizens to bounce back after losing to Tottenham.
Neville had a feeling thatMan City would not get the result they wanted when he looked at Guardiola’s team sheet on Sunday, as the pundit could see a major flaw.
Gary Neville speaking into a Man City branded microphone.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Gary Neville is not a fan of Matheus Nunes at right-back
As Guardiola looked for solutions to problems last season, Matheus Nunes was put in at right-back, and it is fair to say the Portuguese star impressed Man City fans in that role.
More Man City News
However, there was an expectation that the Manchester club would sign a right-back this summer, but that has not materialised, which leaves opponents with an area of the pitch to exploit against Guardiola’s team.
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler was proud of beating Man City last season, and Neville knew the Seagulls had a chance again on Sunday when he looked at the Manchester club’s back four.
“I was down there and the teams came up, and when I look at Matheus Nunes at right back, Ait-Nouri is too early to assess, but he’s a new left back,” the former Man United star said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
“And I look at Khusanov at centre-back, I think, all right, OK, Brighton have got a chance. And a few years ago, I mean, obviously on the bench was Ake, Akanji and Dias.
“So if that back four read Stones, Akanji, Dias, Ake, you’d look at those four, I know they’re a bit older in years now, and you think, there’s four monsters there, four beasts, they’re not going to give you much of a chance.
“So there’s an element, obviously, Kyle Walker’s left. You know, a long time ago. But there’s an element of looking at City’s back four now and thinking, we’ve got a chance here.”
Matheus Nunes’ game vs Brighton in numbers
Before the 2025/26 campaign got underway, Micah Richards had a feeling Nunes could be a problem for Man City, as the £53m midfielder is not a right-back.
The 27-year-old struggled a bit at the Amex on Sunday with the Portuguese international giving away the penalty that led to the home side’s equaliser, before being taken off after 85 minutes.
Nunes ended the game against Brighton with 0 goal contributions, 0 chances created, 42/48 passes completed, 1/1 successful dribbles, 2 passes into the final third, 0/2 long balls, 1 block, 4 clearances, 1 interception, 5 recoveries, and was never dribbled past.
Man City fans feel Rayan Ait-Nouri struggled more than his fellow full-back at Brighton, but the right-back issue is definitely something the Manchester club should have addressed over the summer.