Manchester City vs Brighton prediction 28.10.2026 | EFL Cup

Manchester City are excellent this season. In the Premier League, they top the standings with 21 points from eight matches, while in the Champions League, Enzo Maresca's team have two wins after three rounds. Manchester City suffered their first defeat in the domestic league last weekend, when they lost 2-1 on the road against Aston Villa. The visitors played well for most of the game, but the hosts scored from both shots on target and left Manchester City empty-handed.

Following last weekend's defeat, Enzo Maresca admitted that his side's lack of clinical finishing had proved costly. He explained, "For sure, when you see the amount of time we spent in their box, sometimes you probably need to be a little bit more accurate in the last third and try to score goals. We lost because we probably are not being clinical enough in their box."

Manchester City doesn't have significant problems with missing players, as only Antoine Semenyo and Matheus Nunes should skip the upcoming EFL Cup tie. Also, it is very possible that Enzo Maresca will rotate the squad for Wednesday's match and give an opportunity to players who have had fewer minutes this season.

In previous years, Brighton became one of the most stable English teams. This season, the Seagulls took another step forward, sitting third after eight rounds, five points behind Manchester City and Arsenal. Brighton have been excellent lately, with eight consecutive games without defeat. The run ended last weekend when Fabian Hurzeler's team lost 2-0 away to Liverpool. Although the guests didn't find the net, they played solidly, and the final score seems pretty harsh.

Brighton lost to Liverpool, and Fabian Hurzeler talked about what his team could do better. He commented, "Until the final third, it was overall a good performance. In the final third, we definitely could do more. The second part of the truth is also that we didn't work hard enough to keep a clean sheet; we weren't clean enough in the clearances, and that's also part of the truth."

Brighton will be without Kaoru Mitoma, Evan Ferguson, Stefanos Tzimas, Femi Azeez, and Zadok Yohanna. Also, Pascal Struijk, Mats Wieffer, Ferdi Kadioglu, and Chema Andres are questionable, and their status will get clearer closer to the kickoff.