Team news: Minteh and Wieffer in contention to return against Manchester City

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Albion aim to reach the Carabao Cup quarter-final for only the second time on Wednesday.

Bruce Talbot

2026-10-27T10:15+00:00

Mats Wieffer suffered his injury against Chelsea at the end of August.📷James Boardman

Albion are back on the road on Wednesday for the first of two meetings with Manchester City at the Etihad.

This one is for a place in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, a stage of the competition Albion have only reached once before.

Team news

Ferdi Kadioglu and Chema Andres both picked up hip injuries in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Liverpool and their fitness will be assessed ahead of the game.

The good news is that Mats Wieffer (knee) and Yankuba Minteh are both back in contention. Wieffer has missed the last nine games while Minteh (knee) was injured in pre-season against Roma.

Fabian Hurzeler’s thoughts

“That's a positive one, that Minteh and Wieffer will be back. Having new faces back in the group always brings new energy.

"The injured players who were out for a long time always have a point to prove. They want to get back in the team. You feel it from day one when they come on the pitch that they want to show they belong in the team, and that's always helpful to have this competition for places, it lifts the energy in the training sessions.

“We are all looking forward to having these players back because, before the injuries, they were big players for us. Of course, the team is playing very well, so it also means that the returning players have to raise their standards, but that's only positive for our culture.”

Yankuba Minteh could make his return after injury at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday. 📷Paul Hazlewood.

Match facts

The only previous League Cup meeting between Manchester City and Albion was in the second round in 2008-09; after a 2-2 draw at the Withdean Stadium, the Seagulls won 5-3 on penalties.
Brighton are unbeaten in four games against Man City (W2 D2), their best ever unbeaten run against them, all in Premier League games. However, they've never won an away game against them in 16 attempts in all competitions (D4 L12).
City have won their last seven League Cup matches, their joint-best ever winning run in the competition. Only six teams have won eight in a row, most recently Newcastle United (9 between October 2024 and December 2025).
Albion have played 17 matches in the League Cup since the 2020-21 campaign and have either failed to score (4) or scored two or more goals (13) every time. They are averaging 2.5 goals per game in that time (42 in 17 games), with only Man Utd (2.6, 46 in 18 games) and Blackburn Rovers (2.6, 41 in 16 games) having a better ratio across this period.
Since his League Cup debut in August 2021, no player has more assists in the competition than Rayan Ait-Nouri (6), who has four assists in his last four League Cup appearances for Manchester City.
Since Fabian Hurzeler's first season in charge in 2024-25, Albion have scored more League Cup goals via players aged 22 or younger than any other side (18) – second in this regard in this timeframe is Manchester City with 12.