City v Brighton: De Bruyne set to make 300th appearance

Men's Team

Ake: Premier League title race to be enjoyed

The Belgian comes back into the side alongside Ederson, Aymeric Laporte, Rodrigo, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez as Pep Guardiola switches things up for City’s fourth game in 10 days.

They replace Zack Steffen, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Jack Grealish, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling, who all drop to the bench.

Ruben Dias is also among the substitutes for the third consecutive game, as is Cole Palmer, who has recovered from a foot injury to return to the matchday squad for the first time since January's FA Cup victory over Swindon Town.

As expected, there is no place for Kyle Walker, who remains out with the knock he picked up against Atletico Madrid.

CITY: Ederson, Cancelo, Stones, Laporte, Ake, Rodrigo, Gundogan (C), De Bruyne, Mahrez, Bernardo, Foden.

SUBS: Steffen, Dias, Sterling, Jesus, Grealish, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Palmer, Lavia.

BRIGHTON: Sanchez, Veltman, Dunk, Cucurella, Lamptey, Gross, Caicedo, March, Mac Allister, Mwepu, Welbeck.

SUBS: Webster, Maupay, Lallana, Steele, McGill, Leonard, Offiah, Ferguson, Sarmiento.

It looks as if City will line-up in Guardiola’s preferred 4-3-3 formation against the Seagulls.

Ederson will be protected by a back four that has Joao Cancelo at right-back and Nathan Ake on the opposite flank, outside the central defensive pairing of John Stones and Laporte.

Rodrigo will be deployed in his usual anchorman role, with captain Ilkay Gundogan and De Bruyne ahead of him.

The Belgian should be the most advanced of the midfield trio, pushing up to support Bernardo Silva, who looks set to lead the line up front, with Mahrez on the right and Foden operating off the left.

As always, we’ll have to wait until kick-off to see how City shape up and there could well be plenty of interchanging in that forward line.

It’s a milestone night for De Bruyne, who becomes the 39th player in the Club’s history to clock up a triple century of appearances.

The Belgian has reached that landmark tally six years and eight months after his arrival from Wolfsburg in August 2015 and has been a hugely influential figure in the success that followed.

His return is a welcome boost for Guardiola, after the Catalan revealed that he was reluctant to introduce him against Liverpool at Wembley for fear of aggravating a foot problem and potentially losing him for longer.

The playmaker’s City career has been characterised by goals and assists and how he’d love to mark his 300th appearance with one which gets us back to winning ways this evening.

• City are unbeaten in all 11 of our previous home league games against Brighton (W9, D2).
• The Seagulls have lost eight of their nine Premier League matches against City, with the exception last season's 3-2 victory at Amex Stadium.
• We have won each of our previous 18 league matches on a Wednesday.
• De Bruyne is vying to score in three consecutive league games for the first time since October 2015.
• Foden has scored four Premier League goals against Brighton, more than against any other side.

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