Manchester United meet Brighton & Hove Albion in a huge third-round tie as both teams look to embark on a FA Cup run this season.
Victory would see Man Utd avoid suffering their earliest FA Cup exit since 2013-14 season, whilst Brighton last exited at this stage in 2019-20 season.
Team News
Man Utd have no fresh injury concerns to report after their 2-2 draw at Burnley in the Premier League.
Matthijs de Ligt (back), Noussair Mazraoui and Amad Diallo (both international duty) remain sidelined, but Bryan Mbeumo won’t be involved after Cameroon were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations on Friday (9 January).
Brighton could be without Yankuba Minteh after he suffered a dead leg in their 1-1 Premier League draw at Manchester City.
Joel Veltman and Charalampos Kostoulas are available following their recoveries from knocks.
Mats Wieffer (toe), Carlos Baleba (international duty), Stefanos Tzimas (ACL), Solly March and Adam Webster (both knee) remain sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Man Utd host Brighton at Old Trafford on Sunday 11 January at 4:30pm GMT, live on TNT Sports 2, with TNT Sports 1 simulcasting the game once coverage of Portsmouth’s tie against Arsenal is concluded, in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Manchester United are yet to lose to Brighton in the FA Cup across their six previous ties (W6), of which two of those ties were won via replays whilst they prevailed on penalties in the semi-final of 2022-23 edition after 0-0 draw.
- Brighton are winless away to Man Utd in the FA Cup after four previous visits to Old Trafford (D1, L3), in which they failed to score in those three losses amidst a 2-2 draw in January 1981 before they lost the replay at home.
- Man Utd have conceded in just two of their eight previous FA Cup meetings against Brighton across six ties, with both games in which they conceded having finished 2-2.
- Two of Man Utd’s last three FA Cup ties ended in 1-1 draws (W1, D2), of which they subsequently won and lost one penalty shootout apiece following the two draws.
- Excluding penalties, Brighton have lost one of their last five FA Cup ties against fellow Premier League opposition (W3, D1, L1) – which came in a 1-0 fifth round defeat at Wolves in February 2024.
Prediction
For all of their dominance at Burnley, Man Utd certainly threw away a potential win through a mixture of wasteful finishing plus sloppy defending when the Clarets were on top, so a huge improvement is required if they’re to avoid further embarrassment against a much tougher team.
Interim manager, Darren Fletcher though should be pleased that the squad actively responded positively to his immediate tweaks and formation change in that game, which gives them a solid base to build upon in this game but whether they can actually build momentum is another question entirely.
Brighton meanwhile could of easily had all eyes on this game when they visited Man City yet they turned up and actually looked the more composed team in terms of attacking quality, whilst a dogged late defensive effort saw them salvage a deserved draw.
They now need to bring more of the same and be more clinical because this is arguably their greatest chance of claiming a first FA Cup victory over Man Utd, as the Red Devils’ defence is frankly there for the taking if the opposition turns up with the right tactics and attacking press.
Home fans though will give Man Utd and Darren Fletcher the boost that they need but I do think that Brighton should have enough quality to grind out a win, even if extra-time or penalties are required.
Prediction: Man Utd 1-2 (A.E.T) Brighton
Result: Man Utd 1-2 Brighton
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