Man City Morning Round-Up, Wednesday 28th October 2026: City's Youngsters Thrashed by Port Vale as Focus Turns to Brighton Double-Header

It was a rough night for the academy lads as Manchester City's Under-21s crashed out of the EFL Trophy, thumped five-nil by Port Vale, part of a tricky round for the competition that also saw Blackpool beat Aston Villa (BBC Sport). Reiss summed up the defeat by saying City "lost against their style of play" (ManCity.com). The Manchester Evening News took a deeper look at the fallout, pointing to a mid-match meeting and a missed chance as City's young side look to learn lessons from the heavy loss (Manchester Evening News).

Attention quickly turns to tonight's Carabao Cup clash with Brighton and Hove Albion at the Etihad Stadium, the first leg of a double-header against the Seagulls (Manchester Evening News) (Manchester Evening News). There's a timely injury update ahead of the game, with news on Nunes, Ndiaye and Semenyo and possible return dates for City (Manchester Evening News). The Manchester Evening News also ran their predicted line-up for the match, suggesting Enzo Maresca could turn to a replacement for Erling Haaland (Manchester Evening News).

With a packed squad list to pick from, Maresca is reportedly using the cup run to keep a couple of promises, having sent five fringe players away on holiday given the size of his squad - opening the door for others to stake a claim for involvement (Manchester Evening News).

So it's a big night coming up at the Etihad, with City hosting Brighton in the Carabao Cup as Maresca looks to bounce back from the youth side's midweek disappointment (Manchester Evening News) (Manchester Evening News).

This round-up is written with the help of AI, using only the day's headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.