Four players coming back to Man City with a point to prove after international break

Manchester City are back in action on Saturday when they face Brighton.

It will have been a long fortnight for Pep Guardiola waiting to try and leave behind consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time in five years, yet there is no talk of crisis at the Etihad. Indeed, if the Blues win they will return to the top of the Premier League for at least a few hours.

City's stars have been around the world representing their national teams over the past two weeks but return looking to find the rhythm and flair that they lacked in losing to Newcastle, Wolves, and Arsenal. As the Blues embark on a run of six games in the next four weeks that include a Champions League double header against Young Boys and testing away trips at United and Chelsea., some will have more than others to prove.

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Rodri has already apologised to his teammates for the ridiculous red card he picked up against Forest, and the matches without him have shown how important he is to the side. Starting with Brighton at home, the Spaniard needs to get right back to his level as the best midfielder in the league while showing none of the stupidity that caused his suspension in the first place.

It isn't that Grealish has been bad, but he is still searching for the form he showed when he was at least one of City's best players from January up until they won the league. The former Villa man is still battling to nail down a spot in the England team and has had his place under Guardiola threatened by new boy Jeremy Doku.

The manager explained his reasoning for leaving Grealish out at Arsenal but that