Man City vs Brighton: Preview, h2h as Azeez and Yohanna are out

Brighton’s Nigerian forwards Femi Azeez and Zadok Yohanna are both listed as injured for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup fourth-round tie at Manchester City, so the Seagulls travel to the Etihad without either.

City lost 2-1 at Aston Villa on Saturday, with Erling Haaland equalising before Nicolas Jackson scored the winner. They reached this round by beating Norwich 5-0.

Brighton lost 2-0 at Liverpool on Sunday, their first defeat since late August, and sit third in the Premier League, five points behind City and Arsenal. They got here with a 3-2 win over Manchester United in round three.

Form guide

Soccernet also previewed the round’s other Nigerian-interest tie, Fulham vs Palace. City lost at Villa on Saturday and now host a cup tie on Wednesday. Brighton’s defeat at Liverpool was their first since late August, and they come to Manchester with six players listed out.

Head-to-head

City have 21 wins to Brighton’s eight from 36 meetings, but they have not beaten Brighton in their last four, and their last win came in April 2024. The last meeting was a 1-1 draw at the Etihad in January, when Haaland opened the scoring and Kaoru Mitoma equalised. This is only the second League Cup meeting between the clubs.

Key battles: the Nigerian connection

Azeez and Yohanna sidelined

Azeez, who joined from Millwall on deadline day, has yet to make a Brighton appearance. Fabian Hurzeler has said it is not clear how long his return will take, and Soccernet covered that in Femi Azeez: It’s not quite clear, says Brighton boss on return. Yohanna is listed with a knock.

Analysis: Depth decides a cup tie like this

Rotation is likely in a cup tie, which makes squad depth the story. City have Matheus Nunes cleared to return and Iliman Ndiaye available, with only Antoine Semenyo ruled out, for about eight weeks.

Brighton are without six players: Stefanos Tzimas, Yankuba Minteh, Mitoma, Evan Ferguson, Yohanna and Azeez, with Pascal Struijk and Mats Wieffer being assessed. That is a lot of attacking quality to lose against a City side stung by Saturday’s defeat.

Team news

Brighton are without Tzimas (ACL tear), Minteh (ankle surgery), Mitoma (hamstring), Ferguson (ankle), Yohanna (knock) and Azeez (hamstring). Struijk and Wieffer are being assessed after returning from spells out. For City, Nunes has been cleared to return, Ndiaye is available after being substituted against Villa with reported cramp and fatigue, and Semenyo is out for about eight weeks with a knee injury.

City at home, with the fuller squad and a reaction to Saturday’s defeat to produce, should edge it, though Brighton drew at the Etihad in January and have not lost to City in four meetings.