Preview: Manchester United vs Brighton & Hove Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

Fresh from contrasting Premier League results over the weekend, Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion butt heads at Old Trafford in the EFL Cup third round on Wednesday night.

The victors of this tie will enter the fourth-round draw taking place directly after the match, with those fixtures to take place during the week commencing October 26.

Match preview

The 199th Manchester derby turned out to be a highly controversial affair ending in defeat for Michael Carrick’s side, who fell to a narrow 1-0 loss against 10-player Man City on Sunday. Erling Haaland’s second-half match-winner was allowed to stand despite Enzo Fernandez interfering with play from an offside position.

Man United will rightly feel aggrieved by VAR’s “error of judgment”, but the Red Devils ultimately failed to capitalise on the numerical advantage they held for over an hour. Carrick’s laboured frontline painfully lacked ideas, forcing Gianluigi Donnarumma into making only one meaningful save deep into stoppage time after Phil Foden’s 23rd-minute dismissal.

After finishing last season on a high, Man United have begun the new campaign poorly, winning just one of their opening four Premier League games (D1 L2) and failing to keep a single clean sheet (seven goals conceded). They already sit eight points adrift of both Arsenal and Man City at the summit, and any slim hopes of a title challenge seem to have already been extinguished.

Before travelling to winless Fulham for their next top-flight fixture on Sunday, Man United will endeavour to put things right against Brighton in the EFL Cup, a competition they have won six times (third most), including their most recent triumph in 2022-23.

Wednesday’s fixture represents Man United’s first in the EFL Cup since their embarrassing second-round exit to fourth-tier outfit Grimsby Town under former boss Ruben Amorim last season. The Red Devils were last knocked out in this competition before round four in successive seasons back in 1994-95 and 1995-96.

Man United were beaten in their most recent cup encounter with Brighton, losing 2-1 at home in the FA Cup third round in January, but they did secure a 3-0 Premier League victory over the Seagulls on the final day of the 2025-26 season in May. Success in midweek would see them record back-to-back wins over Brighton for the first time since February 2022.

In contrast to Man United, Brighton are flying high in the Premier League, as the Seagulls sit fourth in the table with seven points (W2 D1 L1). They have scored a division-high 13 goals across their opening four games this season, which is their most at this stage of any of their 14 top-flight campaigns in history.

Fabian Hurzeler’s side delivered a ruthless attacking display against 10-man Coventry City at the CBS Arena on Sunday, putting their newly-promoted hosts to the sword 5-0 and recording the joint-second biggest Premier League victory in their history.

While Hurzeler was delighted with his team’s offensive output in a “special” victory, with five different players on the scoresheet, he also heaped praise on Man of the Match Bart Verbruggen, who made six saves to record his fourth clean sheet in six games across all competitions this term.

A tricky home clash with champions Arsenal is on the horizon for Brighton, but they will first shift their focus to Wednesday’s trip to Old Trafford and will endeavour to improve on a historically poor EFL Cup record, having progressed as far as the quarter-finals only once in their history (1978-79); they have suffered a fourth-round exit in five of the last six seasons, while the other was in round three.

However, the Seagulls can take comfort from their recent head-to-head record against Man United, winning seven of their last 11 meetings across all tournaments (L4) and scoring at least two goals in six of those victories – four of those wins were also celebrated at Old Trafford.

Manchester United form (all competitions):

Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):

Team News

Man United will be without Matthijs de Ligt (back), Manuel Ugarte (knee), Amad Diallo (ankle), Tom Heaton (hamstring) and Carlos Baleba (ankle) – signed from Brighton in the summer – as they continue to recover from injury.

Luke Shaw is a fitness doubt and will be assessed ahead of kickoff after missing the Manchester derby. Patrick Dorgu could continue at left-back if Shaw is unavailable to return, but Carrick may also consider pushing him further forward and starting Noussair Mazraoui on the left side of a four-man defence.

Carrick is likely to freshen up his side further up the pitch, with Andrey Santos pushing for a recall in midfield and Benjamin Sesko in contention to start up front ahead of Matheus Cunha, who has struggled to make the desired impact as a false nine.

As for Brighton, their packed treatment room includes Yankuba Minteh (calf), Kaoru Mitoma (thigh), Jack Hinshelwood, Zadok Yohanna (both unspecified), Mats Wieffer, Stefanos Tzimas (both knee) and Evan Ferguson (ankle).

Georginio Rutter (ankle), Femi Azeez (thigh) and Michael Svoboda (knee) all missed the win over Coventry and a late call is set to be made on their availability for Wednesday.

Pascal Gross, who contributed to three goals (one goal, two assists) against Coventry, has scored more goals against Man United (seven) than any other opponent in his career. The 35-year-old could continue in midfield alongside Yasin Ayari and Malick Yalcouye, who also scored at the weekend.

However, Hurzeler has new recruit Chema Andres and Matt O’Reilly pushing to start, while Pascal Struijk, Jaouen Hadjam, Ibrahim Osman Promise David are also contenders to feature in the first XI.

Manchester United possible starting lineup:

Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Mazraoui; Mainoo, Santos; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Dorgu; Sesko

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:

Verbruggen; Kadioglu, Dunk, Vuskovic, Boscagli; Gross, Ayari; Gomez, Yalcouye, De Cuyper; Kostoulas

We say: Manchester United 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion

Confidence is flowing through this free-scoring Brighton side despite not being at full strength, while an out-of-sorts Man United are yet to shift into first gear this term and will be wary of facing a club that has routinely had their number in recent seasons.

Given the Red Devils' defensive fragility and bluntness in the final third, we feel that Hurzeler’s clinical outfit possess the edge at this stage of the campaign, boasting more than enough firepower to outscore their hosts and condemn them to successive early exits from the EFL Cup.

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