Bouaddi, Kovacic And Foden To Start | 4-2-3-1 Manchester City Predicted Lineup Vs Brighton

Bouaddi, Kovacic And Foden To Start | 4-2-3-1 Manchester City Predicted Lineup Vs Brighton Manchester City will entertain Brighton and Hove Albion at the Etihad Stadium this Wednesday night as they look to earn a victory at home in the EFL Cup. The Mancunian giants suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of Aston Villa last weekend, so they would be eager to bounce back with a positive result versus the Seagulls. Enzo Maresca will set his men up in a 4-2-3-1 formation once again and is expected to make a handful of changes to his first XI for this game. Ayyoub Bouaddi, Mateo Kovacic and Phil Foden could all play from the start of this contest. 4-2-3-1 Manchester City Predicted Lineup To Face Brighton Defence Geronimo Rulli will play in goal for Man City as he looks to earn a clean sheet at the Etihad in midweek. Vitor Reis could get a chance to play alongside Abdukodir Khusanov at the centre of Maresca’s defence as they try to keep things solid at the back during the game. Rico Lewis will try to impress as the right-back, while Nico O’Reilly hopes to prove his worth on the other side as the left-back. Both of them will try to go forward and join in on the attack at every chance they can get. Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol will be rested on the bench as they provide cover for the defensive positions. MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 17: Geronimo Rulli of Manchester City during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Manchester City and Norwich City at Etihad Stadium on September 17, 2026 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images) Midfield Ayyoub Bouaddi and Mateo Kovacic will play as the holding midfielders for Man City as they focus on winning the 50-50 battles at the centre of the park and engineering some inviting chances in the final third. The talented trio of Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden and Allan will operate just ahead of them as part of Maresca’s attack. All three of them need to be at their best if Man City are to come out on top in midweek. Elliot Anderson and Iliman Ndiaye will make up the numbers on the bench as they wait for their chance to shine in the second half if required. Attack Floyd Samba could get a chance to lead the line for Man City up top. He managed to score a brace in the 5-0 win over Norwich City in the last round of the EFL Cup, so his confidence would be sky-high ahead of this game. Erling Haaland will be rested on the bench and might come on to make an impact in the latter stages of the game if Man City are in need of a goal by then.