Manchester United head to the Amex Stadium on Wednesday night for the second time in five days as they face Brighton in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup after clinching a dramatic 3-2 win over the Seagulls on Saturday with VAR awarding us a penalty after the final whilst had been blown.

The league game did prove that we will need to play much better if we are to progress into the fifth round as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said after the win that we “got away with one” there. With the dust barely settled, it seems so unlikely that we see the same thing happening again as this game went down as one of the most action-packed and controversial games in the history of the Premier League. 

Brighton did prove a stern test for us and they will be looking to do it all again as the league game saw them hit the woodwork on five separate occasions and had 18 shots against us. On the other hand, we had only three shots on target but scored with all of them. Ole will want to make sure the defence is more secure as it is likely we will see changes in the back line. 

We had negotiated our way into the fourth round after beating Luton Town 3-0 after goals from Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood. Brighton on the other hand reached this stage after defeating Portsmouth and Preston North End respectively.

Our history in winning the league cup is very good and is only bettered by Liverpool and Manchester City. United will be going into this game with a bit more confidence after victories against Brighton and Luton Town despite the poor start to the season we made when we lost 3-1 Crystal Palace.

Teams: Manchester United vs Brighton

Date: September 30th 2020 (Wednesday)

KO Time: 19:45 BST

Competition: Carabao Cup

Stadium: Amex Stadium

Referee: Graham Scott

Managers: Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Graham Potter

Team News

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made ten changes during the previous round against Luton Town and it is expected we will see changes again for this fourth round tie. It is likely that captain Harry Maguire will lead the defensive line again and Dean Henderson is expected to replace David De Gea after his clean sheet last week.

Juan Mata who earned the man of the match award in the last round will be looking to earn another starting place as he and new signing Donny Van De Beek linked up well. The only injury concerns for United are Phil Jones and Axel Tuanzebe, who are currently on the sidelines.

Ole gave an update to the website ahead of tomorrow’s game and was asked whether both sides will see changes to them, “I’m not sure. Every game lives its own life and, of course at the stage we’re at in the season with all the games coming up, I think teams are making changes. You can see teams have a cup team and a league team and we’ll make changes. It’ll be very similar to what happened last week against Luton.

“It’s an opportunity for game-time. We need to build up the squad for a long season ahead and, of course, it’s an opportunity for individuals to impress.

“At the stage we’re at, we need to have players ready and available because it’s a long season. But we have a strong and a big squad.”

The United website also reported that cameras following training on Monday captured that Diogo Dalot, Tim Fosu-Mensah, Teden Mengi and Andreas Pereira had taken part in the session. These players will be looking to impress Ole and make the match day squad.

As for our opponents Brighton, it is expected that manager Graham Potter will make changes to the side. They will be without the suspended Yves Bissouma, Jose Izquierdo and Florin Andone who remain on the sidelines with injuries.

Form

Manchester United EFL Cup form: W

Manchester United form (all competitions): LWW

Brighton & Hove Albion EFL Cup form: WW

Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions): LWWWL

Interesting Facts:

• United are undefeated in their last 15 away matches.
• Juan Mata is one goal away from scoring a half-century for Manchester United.

Predicted Lineup:

Henderson, Williams, Maguire, Bailly, Wan-Bissaka, Fred, McTominay, Van De Beek, Mata, Lingard and Igahlo.

Predicted Score:

With expected changes to both sides from the Premier League encounter, United will be going into this game not underestimating Brighton who will be looking to exact revenge for their defeat.

We will have to be on our guard defensively as we let the Seagulls have too many chances at our goal during the league game.

With Van De Beek and Juan Mata likely to start, it will be great to see them continue their partnership as they linked up well when they played against Luton Town. Odion Ighalo will be looking to get on the score sheet if he is given a starting berth on the forward line.

Prediction: Manchester United 2-1 Brighton