Enzo Maresca’s Man City team talk vs Brighton has been written for him

Manchester City host Brighton and Hove Albion for the second time in four days on Saturday when they take on the Seagulls in the Premier League

It’s rare to see a side play the same opponents in consecutive matches, never mind hosting the same club twice in four days. But that is the challenge Manchester City are contending with this week. Before Wednesday’s first instalment of their double-header with Brighton at the Etihad Stadium, Enzo Maresca had to decide how much of his hand he was willing to show.

While the Carabao Cup is, and always has been, an important competition for City, beating Brighton in the Premier League is the priority. Maresca would back that up when he announced that Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Elliot Anderson and Erling Haaland had been given three-day holidays after the loss at Aston Villa.

The priorities were outlined further when the team news dropped on Wednesday and City had made nine changes from the weekend. Only Marc Guehi and Rayan Cherki, who were both substituted at half-time against Unai Emery’s men, kept their place.

For spells of the game, Maresca looked as though he would live to regret making so many changes. Brighton were sharper in possession and led twice. But City’s second-string hit back and nearly stole a victory in normal time, but Enzo Fernandez was unable to convert Phil Foden’s free kick.

Eventually it would be the Blues’ night as they squeezed past Brighton 4-3 on penalties. That victory makes City the favourites to win the Carabao Cup, especially after Arsenal’s defeat to Fleetwood, but they will accept that things could have panned out differently. Unsurprisingly, Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler wanted to praise his side after such a narrow defeat, but his comments could backfire on him.

“I think the game was there for us. Also the way we conceded the goals was very unlucky,” he explained post-match. “Overall we will take plenty of positives away from this performance.

“My players really showed togetherness. They faced a lot of adversity with goals we conceded out of nowhere but we always try to keep going. We had plenty of chances we could score today. Sometimes you need also a bit of luck to get to the next round.”

Hurzeler then signed off: “We have a bad feeling but the positive thing is we can come back in three days again and then we can take revenge and hopefully we have a better feeling.”

Maresca will take note of a couple of points from Hurzeler’s post-match reaction. Firstly, City weren’t undeserving of beating the Seagulls. Yes, they rode their luck at times, like any team must during the course of 90 minutes plus penalties. But they created good chances during the match and gave as good as they got.

However, it will be the final comment that could linger with Maresca. Brighton are out for revenge this weekend and they are clearly full of confidence despite their setbacks since thrashing Crystal Palace 5-0.

If Maresca wants to avoid any complacency from his players, he will be using Hurzeler’s words in his team talk. City need to match Brighton’s intensity and Hurzeler’s comments on revenge, combined with City being ‘lucky’ to get past them, should spur the Blues on.

City will make changes on Saturday, as will Brighton. Maresca will be expecting an even tougher challenge, but at least his players have added motivation to return to winning ways in the Premier League.