Brighton vs Manchester United – Match Preview & Prediction

Manchester United are set to play their second match in the League Cup this season. Following a comfortable 3-0 win against Luton Town, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side is now setting sights on an another victory, this time in the fourth round of the competition. Funnily enough, this match will be the re-run of the last weekend’s Premier League encounter, against Brighton and Hove Albion at their Amex Stadium.

The draw had it made that the two teams meet twice in four days at the same stadium, so Manchester United will know exactly what to expect from Graham Potter’s side. After a 3-2 win on Saturday, which came only after the final whistle, now Brighton will want to at least progress in the League Cup, when they already failed to win points against Devils.

Here are the things we should all know ahead of the Wednesday night clash against the Seagulls.

Team News

Manchester United played Brighton on Saturday with their best possible team. There was no tinkering from Solskjaer as we had seen in the first match of the campaign, against Crystal Palace. Now, something similar should not be expecting.

If anything, at least the goalkeeper should be changed, as Dean Henderson is set to be getting playing time in cup competitions. That was the case against Luton as well and he earned a clean sheet on his competitive debut for Manchester United.

The Devils will be without the trio of players that were injured last weekend as well. Those are Phil Jones, Sergio Romero and Axel Tuanzebe. That should not change Solskjaer’s perspective all too much, but some rotations are to be expected.

Players like Daniel James, Scott McTominay and Brandon Williams might get their chance, in order to rest some other players and it will be interesting to see whether Eric Bailly will be in central defence.

Brighton, on the other hand, will be without four players. Florin Andone and Jose Izquierdo have knee injuries that are bothering them, Christian Walton has ankle issues, while Yves Bissouma is sidelined due to a red card suspension.

Form Guide

Brighton might have lost two of their opening three matches in the Premier League, but they are in really good form. Against United they were really good and unlucky to lose, while their opener against Chelsea (3-1 loss) showed they are truly intriguing side that should be closely followed. In between those matches, there were three wins.

In League Cup, Brighton eased past Portsmouth with a 4-0 win, then they won 3-0 at St James’ Park against Newcastle in the league, before a 2-0 win away at Preston North End, again in the League Cup.

Graham Potter’s side has already been playing some good football.

Predicted Outcome

Manchester United will be, once again, be the favourites to win this match. Maybe Solskjaer will be making changes, but that could be expected from Potter as well and it is clear that Man United have a stronger and deeper squad. Maybe it could even happen once again that there will be over 2.5 goals in this match, so that combination could be worth even more. This way or another, we will be expecting Manchester United in the quarter-finals of the League Cup.

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