- Man City are four points behind league leaders Arsenal with two games in hand
- City travel to tenth place Brighton on Thursday night
- Pep Guardiola confirmed Erling Haaland won't be available
Manchester City have some catching up to do in the Premier League title race.
Back-to-back victories for Arsenal means the Gunners hold a four-point advantage at the summit, with City's FA Cup exploits at the weekend leaving them with two games in hand on their title rivals. Liverpool are very much in the mix, too.
The Cityzens were forced to dig deep to bypass Chelsea at the weekend just 72 hours after their slog with Real Madrid and they'll benefit from the five days of recovery after their semi-final triumph.
City are healthy on the injury front, although Pep Guardiola confirmed Erling Haaland is unavailable for Thursday's game. With their leading scorer out again, here's the starting lineup Guardiola could pick against Brighton.
Man City predicted lineup vs Brighton (3-2-4-1)
GK: Ederson - The Brazilian will return to the side after Stefan Ortega got the nod for City's FA Cup semi-final at the weekend.
CB: Kyle Walker - Walker has once again assumed an important role in City's backline since recovering from injury. He'll feature heavily down the stretch.
CB: Ruben Dias - Guardiola swapped his centre-backs around at half-time on Saturday, with Dias bringing some stability in the second half against Chelsea. The Portuguese defender should make the team at the Amex.
CB: Josko Gvardiol - Nathan Ake is fit and available again, but Gvardiol has found his groove towards the back end of his debut season. The Croatia international was an unused substitute on Saturday having played 120 minutes just three days earlier.
CM: John Stones - Stones' half-time withdrawal at Wembley raised injury fears, but he was spotted in training ahead of Thursday's game. He could assume his hybrid role alongside Rodri.
CM: Rodri - The Spaniard admitted that he needs a rest, but he'll have to wait until the end of the season for that respite.
RM: Bernardo Silva - Bernardo followed up his 120-minute showing with another 90 minutes at Wembley, scoring an 84th minute winner. He could certainly do with a breather, but Guardiola can't live without the control and ball retention he provides down the right.
AM: Kevin De Bruyne - It wouldn't be a surprise to see De Bruyne drop out of the team in midweek, but Guardiola will need his destructive Belgian fit and firing with Haaland out.
AM: Phil Foden - Foden missed training earlier in the week, but Guardiola confirmed on Wednesday the English superstar is "ready" for the trip down to the south coast.
LM: Jack Grealish - Jeremy Doku will be vying for a start and it's a toss-up between the pair. Still, the Belgian is more likely to enter the fray later on in a bid to exploit tired legs.
ST: Julian Alvarez - After starring in a sixth man role last season, 2023/24 has been tough for Alvarez. However, now's his time to deliver in Haaland's absence.
