Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has warned his side to expect another tough test when they host Brighton in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Naija News reports that Manchester City advanced to the League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday, October 28, after drawing 2-2 with Brighton before winning the penalty shootout, despite both teams making 16 changes for the encounter.
However, Maresca and Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler are expected to field stronger sides for the league meeting as both teams seek to strengthen their positions near the top of the table.
City lead the Premier League on points, level with defending champions Arsenal, while third-placed Brighton are five points behind the leading pair.
Maresca praised Brighton’s recent performances, highlighting their attacking quality and aggressive approach against opponents.
“They are in a brilliant moment,” Maresca said. “They are winning games, they are scoring goals. They are scoring many goals every game, three, four, five goals a game.
“I’ve watched all their Premier League games since we started, and since the first day, against Arsenal, Palace, Liverpool, they always go front foot, man to man.
“We knew that this was a tough game and they’re going to be the same on Saturday.”
Brighton took the lead in Wednesday’s cup tie in the 30th minute when Malick Yalcouye turned Georginio Rutter’s effort past Geronimo Rulli from close range.
Mateo Kovacic equalised for City 20 minutes later with a curling effort from 25 yards, but Rutter restored Brighton’s lead shortly after half-time by converting Jaouen Hadjam’s cut-back.
City forced another equaliser in the 72nd minute when Vitor Reis deflected Rayan Cherki’s free-kick into the net.
Although Kovacic missed his penalty in the shootout, Rulli saved efforts from Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk to send City through to the last eight, where they will host third-tier Bradford.
Brighton have remained in the north-west between the two fixtures rather than return to the south coast.
“Having two away games and not sleeping in your own bed, you can’t see it as an advantage, but we will try to make the best of it,” Hurzeler said. “We will not try to find any excuses.”
He added: “We’ll come back with full energy, full enthusiasm and we go on Saturday.”
Meanwhile, Manchester City continue to face uncertainty over their financial rules case after being found guilty last month of more than 100 alleged breaches of Premier League financial regulations.
The club have appealed the verdict and denies wrongdoing. No punishment has been announced, leaving the possibility of sanctions hanging over them if they fail to overturn the decision.
Maresca, who succeeded Pep Guardiola at the end of last season, said his priority remained winning matches as he continued to build a new team.
“It’s a different competition, but the ambition has to be the same,” he said.
“This is a new project with new players, a new manager. It started three months ago.
“We need to do our business. That is winning games and, at the moment, we are doing that.”
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