Haaland and five others return as Brighton carry six injury doubts into Premier League clash

Erling Haaland is in line to start for Manchester City against Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday, returning alongside Elliot Anderson, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol after the quintet were rested for the midweek Carabao Cup penalty shootout victory over the same opponents.

City manager Enzo Maresca confirmed that Matheus Nunes and Iliman Ndiaye are also available, leaving Antoine Semenyo as the club’s only injury concern. The Ghana international sustained a knee injury during the win over Ipswich Town in October and was handed an eight-week recovery timeline, ruling him out until December.

Maresca offered an update on Semenyo’s condition at his pre-match press conference, striking an upbeat tone. “He’s good. He’s in a good mood,” the Italian said. “He’s inside the building, making recovery sessions and all the therapy that he needs. But again, it’s too early.”

Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler faces a considerably longer absentee list as his side seek revenge for the cup defeat. Kaoru Mitoma, Femi Azeez, Zadok Yohanna and Evan Ferguson are all expected to remain sidelined for approximately three more weeks, while Pascal Struijk has been ruled out for the weekend, though he is expected to return for the Brentford fixture on 5 November.

Strike prospect Stefanos Tzimas, who has been absent for around a year with an ACL injury, also comes too soon for Saturday’s match, though Hurzeler indicated the forward is edging closer to first-team training. “We don’t want to force things, we need to give him the time he needs, we have to be patient with him,” the German said. “But Stefano has an incredible mindset — the mindset of a winner, and therefore we are looking forward to having him back in our squad.”

On a more positive note for Brighton, Ferdi Kadioglu, Chema Andres and Babis Kostoulas have all returned to contention. “We are quite convinced they will be options for Saturday,” Hurzeler confirmed.