Carabao Cup Preview: Brighton Hove Albion vs Manchester United

Carabao Cup: Brighton vs Manchester United

Brighton Hove Albion vs Manchester United |Carabao Cup | Amex Stadium | KO: 19:45 (UK)|Sky Sports

Following their dramatic 3-2 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, Manchester United again face the south coast side at the AMEX, this time in the EFL Cup, on Wednesday evening.

Last weekend’s match finished in controversial fashion; with Brighton seemingly having rescued a point in the closing moments of the match.

That was before referee Chris Kavanagh blew the final whistle before he subsequently awarded United a penalty for a Neal Maupay handball, with Bruno Fernandes, of course, slotting home the penalty with the final kick of the game.

Brighton will enter this week’s match feeling somewhat aggrieved. They controlled large portions of Saturday’s fixture, hitting the woodwork no less than five times, and will be determined to get the better of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men this time around.

How do Manchester United look?

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There appear to be no new injury concerns for The Reds going into this one, with just Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones expected to be missing due to injury.

Andreas Pereira, Diogo Dalot and Chris Smalling are all also unlikely to feature, and have been heavily linked to be leaving the club before the transfer window shuts in just under one weeks’ time.

Speaking to MUTV ahead of Wednesday’s fixture, Solskjaer hinted that we may see a rotated side to the one that came out 3-2 victors in United’s last match, saying “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”.

If the boss is to make changes to the eleven that faced The Seagulls at the weekend, he must ensure those coming in do not underestimate their opponents, and must understand the true threat that Brighton will pose to them.

Opposition: Brighton & Hove Albion

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Brighton shocked people with their performance in the previous fixture. They looked confident in attack and solid at the back, and were unfortunate not to win the match.

They did, however, fail to take their chances, and came away with nothing; if they are to beat United on Wednesday, they must be more clinical in front of goal, and turn their close chances into goals.

Neal Maupay is again likely to be the lone front man who will cause United’s centre halves the most trouble, whilst Leandro Trossard will again look to add flair and speed to their attack.

Key Stats:

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Bruno Fernandes’ winning goal against Brighton on Saturday was the first time a goal has been scored after the final whistle has been blown in the Premier League.

Brighton hit the woodwork five times against United last time out, with Leandro Trossard responsible for three of these.

United had two goals ruled out for offside against Brighton at the weekend.

Three penalties were awarded in the last match, with one being overturned by VAR.

Given the stats from the last match, one thing sticks in the mind- DRAMA.