Man City Manchester City

Brighton Brighton and Hove Albion

WHEN AND WHERE

We face Brighton at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday 21 October with kick-off scheduled for 15:00 (UK).

The match will not be available live on TV in the UK, but you can keep across all of the action via the official Man City app, as well as the key moments on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ManCity.

Supporters living around the world can find out how they can tune in via our global TV listings, courtesy of livesoccertv.com.

MAN CITY APP COVERAGE

The official Man City app allows you to follow all of the action at the Etihad all in one place.

Minute-by-minute text updates of the game will begin in our Matchday Centre two hours before kick-off, shortly followed by our Matchday Live show which will begin around 14:00 (UK) – as the team news comes in.

Matchday Live regulars Paul Dickov and Steve Howey will be in the studio with host Cel Spellman. And special guest British Muay Thai champion and Sale-born star Dakota Ditcheva will be on the couch to provide a punch of excitement in her debut on Matchday Live.

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The trio will provide City-centric insight before, during and after the match while they also answer viewer questions throughout the broadcast. With audience participation actively encouraged, get in touch via WhatsApp: +447537186538.

During the game you can listen to blow-by-blow live audio commentary from Alistair Mann and Andy Morrison while our text commentary continues.

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For those who have push notifications turned on, you can be alerted to key moments in the action, including goals, red cards and team news.

Short highlights of the match will be available from 19:00 (UK) with extended highlights and a full-match replay, via CITY+, available from midnight.

WATCH: Fernandinho surprises Ederson!

TEAM NEWS

Rodrigo returns while John Stones and Stefan Ortega make their first Premier League starts of the season as City make five changes in total for our return to action at home to Brighton.

Also returning to the side are Manuel Akanji and Jeremy Doku as manager Pep Guardiola shuffles his pack from the side that lost 1-0 at Arsenal last time out ahead of the October international break.

Rodrigo has missed the last three domestic matches after picking up a straight red card in our 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest last month.

It’s the first time Stones has figured in a Premier League starting eleven this season after recovering from a hip injury that kept him sidelined for almost two months.

After coming on from the bench at the Emirates Stadium earlier this month, the defender then figured for an hour in England’s impressive 3-1 EURO 2024 qualifying win over Italy in midweek.

Ortega is also handed a maiden Premier League start of the 2023/24 campaign as he comes in for Ederson who reverts to the bench.

From the side that lost out at Arsenal, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, Rico Lewis and Mateo Kovacic also start on the substitute’s bench.

Kevin De Bruyne remains sidelined as he continued his recovery from surgery on a hamstring injury sustained at the start of the season.

Teams

CITY XI: Ortega, Walker (C), Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol, Rodrigo, Bernardo, Foden, Doku, Alvarez, Haaland

Subs: Ederson, Dias, Phillips, Ake, Kovacic, Grealish, Gomez, Nunes, Lewis

BRIGHTON: Steele, Julio, Dunk, Milner, March, Pedro, Gross, Welbeck, Baleba, Mitoma, Adingra.

Subs: Verbruggen, Webster, Dahoud, Gilmour, Lallana, Ferguson, Van Hecke, Fati, Veltman.

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PREVIOUS MEETING

In our last meeting with Roberto De Zerbi’s team, we travelled to the Amex Stadium in May where the points were shared after a 1-1 draw. Phil Foden’s goal was cancelled out by a Julio Enciso equaliser.

In their last trip to the Etihad, we beat Brighton emphatically 3-1 as an Erling Haaland brace was topped off with a Kevin De Bruyne goal that nullified Leandro Trossard’s second-half goal.

WATCH: Brighton 1-1 City: Extended highlights

LAST TIME OUT

City conceded out second league defeat of the season at the Emirates earlier this month.

Gabriel Martinelli’s late deflected goal was the defining moment in our 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in a game that could have gone either way.

WATCH: Arsenal 1-0 City: Extended highlights

GLOBAL TV LISTINGS