Sports · Football · 2 hrs ago
Haaland rested as Manchester City rotate for Brighton cup tie
Manchester City left Erling Haaland out of their Carabao Cup fourth-round tie against Brighton on Wednesday.
Manager Enzo Maresca said Haaland and four other senior players were given three days off after City’s 2-1 Premier League defeat at Aston Villa.
The club said Haaland was rested, not injured, and was managing his workload after a long season.
City named a heavily changed starting lineup, with goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli set to make his second appearance for the club.
The cup tie is the first of two games against Brighton in four days, with the teams due to meet again in the Premier League at the Etihad on Oct.
31.
Maresca said Brighton were playing well and expected both matches to be tough.
City are not concerned about the five rested players being available for the league match.
Erling Haaland was left out of Manchester City’s squad for the Carabao Cup fourth-round match against Brighton as part of a rest plan.
City manager Enzo Maresca said Haaland and four other senior players had been given three days off after the team’s 2-1 Premier League defeat at Aston Villa.
Maresca said City would make changes because the cup tie and the teams’ league meeting were close together.
The Brighton match was scheduled for Wednesday, 28 October, at the Etihad Stadium.
City were due to host Brighton again in the Premier League on 31 October.
- Who
- Manchester City and Brighton. Erling Haaland was among five City players rested.
- What
- City left Haaland out of the squad for their Carabao Cup fourth-round tie against Brighton.
- When
- Wednesday, 28 October 2026.
- Where
- The Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
- Why
- City gave Haaland three days off after their defeat at Aston Villa and made changes because the Brighton matches were close together.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
City lost 2-1 in the Premier League and gave five senior players three days off.
Manchester City were scheduled to host Brighton in the Carabao Cup fourth round.
Brighton were scheduled to return to the Etihad for a Premier League match.
- Rested players
- Erling Haaland, Elliot Anderson, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Joško Gvardiol and Rúben Dias
- Previous result
- Manchester City lost 2-1 to Aston Villa
- Cup tie
- Carabao Cup fourth round against Brighton
- Cup match date
- 28 October 2026
- League rematch
- 31 October 2026
3 sources
What people are saying
After Villa, we gave five players three days off. Erling, Elliot, Gigio, Ruben and Josko. Go away on holiday. Three days off, go, come back. Full energy.
In terms of how we plan, they [the games] are so close so we need to make some changes.
First of all, they are doing very well so both games will be tough.