Erling Haaland is expected to lead the line for Man City away at Brighton
Pep Guardiola has some big decisions to make regarding to who starts for Manchester City against Brighton this weekend.
Man City travel to the south coast hoping to bounce back from defeat at home to Tottenham last week.
Summer signing James Trafford had a home debut to forget as he was largely at fault for Joao Palhinha’s goal shortly before half-time which made it 2-0 to Spurs and handed City a big mountain to climb.
While Ederson is fit again after missing the win over Wolves in Man City’s first game of the Premier League season, a start in between the posts for the Brazilian appears unlikely as he continues to be linked with a move away before the summer transfer window closes.
As a result, Trafford looks set to keep his place behind a back four that remains unchanged from the Spurs game as Rayan Ait-Nouri has been declared fit after being substituted in the first-half.
Guardiola could be tempted to hand Rodri a start in midfield after the Spaniard - named in Luis de la Fuente’s squad for World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria and Turkey - came off the bench against Tottenham.
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Phil Foden is also pushing for a start following his return to full fitness but faces competition from the likes of Oscar Bobb, Omar Marmoush, Rayan Cherki and captain Bernardo Silva.
Mateo Kovacic remains sidelined but Josko Gvardiol, Claudio Echeverri and Savinho are all doubtful with the likelihood that they will be ready for selection after the international break.
Predicted Man City XI: Trafford; Lewis, Stones, Dias, Ait-Nouri; Reijnders, Rodri; Bobb, Silva, Marmoush; Haaland
Injured: Kovacic
Doubts: Savinho, Gvardiol, Echeverri, Bettinelli
Time and date: 2pm BST on Sunday, August 31, 2025
How to watch: Sky Sports
Venue: Amex Stadium