Erling Haaland Among Five Manchester City Stars Rested for Brighton Cup Clash

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland will sit out tomorrow's Carabao Cup clash against Brighton. Manager Enzo Maresca has handed the Norwegian forward, along with Gianluigi Donnarumma, Rúben Dias, Joško Gvardiol, and Elliot Anderson, a three-day break to manage their heavy workload. City are set to host Brighton at the Etihad again just days later in the Premier League, when all five players will be back in contention.

"After the Aston Villa match, we gave five players three days off – Erling, Rúben, Elliot, Gigio, and Joško. They are all on holiday. Three days off to recharge their batteries – they step away, come back full of energy, and then we move forward," said Maresca, who was full of praise for tomorrow's opponents.

"First of all, they are performing very well, so it will be a tough match. Moreover, because the two games are so close together, we will have to make some rotations. We have another training session this afternoon, after which we'll make our decisions for tomorrow and for Saturday. They play with immense courage – they are aggressive, they attack, and in possession, they commit plenty of bodies forward, creating chances and scoring a lot of goals. So yes, we must stay alert defensively and be clinical in attack."

The Italian tactician also offered his full backing to Gianluigi Donnarumma and Marc Guéhi following their costly errors in the defeat to Aston Villa, which was City's first Premier League loss of the season.

"I think Gigio has done well right from the start. Like any player or manager, you make a mistake at some point, but that is part of a long season. Ultimately, they play so many games and rack up so many minutes on the pitch that avoiding mistakes entirely is nearly impossible. He is a strong character and a great professional. When players make an error – like on the opening goal – they don't need me, you, or anyone else to tell them they got it wrong. Sometimes it is so obvious that they hold their hands up right away. It's simply part of football.

I am completely satisfied with Marc, especially at this moment, because the way he responded was fantastic. He is one of the captains, a true leader, and honestly, I hold him in very high regard. The same goes for Gigio. When they make a mistake, they acknowledge it. Marc is fully aware of the situation, but let's not forget he has featured in every single match since the start of the season – for both club and country."