Guardiola hopeful that record goal-scorer will be able to play in final home game against Everton
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City
Competition: F.A. Premier League
Date: 7.00pm, Tuesday 18th May 2021
Venue: American Express Community Stadium, Brighton
Referee: Stuart Atwell Assistants: C Hatzidakis, N Hopton Fourth Official: G Scott VAR: J Moss
Odds: Brighton 6/1, Draw 7/2, City 1/2
TV: BT Sport
Brighton & Hove Albion
Manager: Graham Potter
Squad (from): Steele, Sanchez, Walton, White, Webster, Karbownik, Burn, Veltman, Yapi, Bissouma, Mac Allister, Gross, Lallana, Moder, Alzate, Propper, Caicedo, Connolly, Trossard, Jahanbaksh, Welbeck, Izquierdo, Andone, Tau, Zeqiri
Injured: Maupay, March, Lamptey
Doubtful: Veltman, Propper
Suspended: Dunk
Form guide: DLWLD
Manchester City
Manager: Pep Guardiola
Squad (from): Ederson, Steffen, Carson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Ake, Zinchenko, Laporte, Mendy, Cancelo, Garcia, Gundogan, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Silva, Fernandinho, Foden, Sterling, Jesus, Torres, Mahrez
Injured: Aguero
Doubtful: De Bruyne
Suspended: None
Form guide: WWWLW
Kevin De Bruyne is available again after missing the trip to Newcastle, but Sergio Aguero is ruled out with a leg muscle injury. Manager Pep Guardiola remains hopeful that City's record goal-scorer will be available for the last game of the season against Everton.
“Sergio has niggles, it’s a little disturbance in his leg muscle and adductor but it’s not a big issue. He is still not fit to play (against Brighton)," said Guardiola.
“Can he make the weekend? I hope so, I hope so.”
City's focus is firmly on the Champions League final against Chelsea on May 29th, but Guardiola said that the two remaining games against Brighton and Everton were a vital part of theiur preparations.
“We focus. We will have six days to prepare for the final, that goes into the details. Now we prepare for the Brighton game like we have done all season.
“Working to prepare for Brighton helps us for the final. I am not focused on Chelsea. We wouldn’t prepare well if we weren’t prepared for Brighton and Everton.
“Tomorrow we are going to play a game to win again, it’s the best way to arrive for the final. (For the) final five or six days we will be more focused for Chelsea.
"People need to maintain rhythm to play their best in final as possible, and the only way is to train well.
“We train as usual to arrive at the Brighton game and Everton game and the Champions League final as best as possible.”
City won their last game at the Am-Ex 5-0, with Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling (3) scoring for the Blues. Overall City have won 16 of the 25 games played against the Seagulls, with 5 draws and 4 defeats.
Predicted line-up: Ederson, Cancelo, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Foden, Torres
Score prediction: Brighton 1 City 2