Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on opposition boss Roberto De Zerbi ahead of Manchester City’s trip to Brighton, with the Seagulls needing just a point to secure Europa League football.
“Pay attention to what I’m going to say because I’m pretty convinced I’m right – Roberto de Zerbi is one of the most influential managers in the last 20 years”, the City boss explained.
“There is no team playing in the way they play – it is unique. I had the feeling when he arrived in the Premier League that the impact would be great but I couldn’t expect he would do this in this short a time.
“He creates 20-25 chances on average a game. He’s better by far than all the opponents, he monopolises the ball in a way I haven’t seen for a long. long time.”
Now tasked with stopping them, it is not clear which Manchester City players will be given the night off ahead of their finals to come, as they eye up a historic treble.
Here’s how we expect them to line up, and the latest team news from the Etihad.
📰 Table Of Contents
Predicted XI
Team News
“He’s getting better. He’s at the latter stage. We have to be careful after being injured for the second time, in case we need him for United or Inter”, the City boss explained.
Beyond that, however, there are no injury concerns for the Cityzens, though it is unclear who they will be willing to risk between now and the end of their dead rubber Premier League campaign.
A much changed side edged past Chelsea on Sunday and we could see a similarly rotated XI take to the field against the Seagulls and Brentford, with the likes of Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland all rested last weekend.
