Manchester United hosts Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford for Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie.
The Red Devils commenced the post-Ruben Amorim era with a 2-2 stalemate at Burnley with interim manager Darren Fletcher taking charge.
The Seagulls put a dent in Manchester City’s title ambitions as they battled to a 1-1 draw at the Etihad last time out.
**Match preview**
Manchester United have faced Brighton in six previous FA Cup ties and have been victorious in all six, most recently in the 2022/23 semi-final, winning 7-6 on penalties after a 0-0 draw.
Brighton have been eliminated from the FA Cup six times by Man Utd, the most they’ve ever been knocked out by one side. They’ve won three of their last four visits to Old Trafford – all in the Premier League – but did lose 4-2 there earlier this season.
The Red Devils have been knocked out in the FA Cup third round in just two of their last 40 ties at this stage, losing 1-0 to Leeds United in 2009/10 and 2-1 to Swansea City in 2013/14.
The Seagulls have progressed from 14 of their last 16 FA Cup third-round ties – the exceptions were against Hull in 2015/16 and Sheffield Wednesday in 2019/20, both 1-0 defeats.
Manchester United’s Matheus Cunha has scored in each of his last four FA Cup appearances, all for Wolves between January 2024 and March 2025. Only four Premier League players have scored in five in a row since 1992-93 – Marc Overmars (1998-1999), Darren Bent (2012-2014), Wayne Rooney (2011-2013) and Romelu Lukaku (2014-2016 & 2017-2018).
**Team news**
**Manchester United**
The hosts received a major boost as captain Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo returned from their respective injuries in the Burnley draw.
Matthijs de Ligt is the only absentee with injury.
Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui are away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Bryan Mbeumo crashed out of the competition with Cameroon last night against the host, Morocco, but he’s not expected to be available.
**Brighton & Hove Albion**
Mats Wieffer, Yankuba Minteh, Solly March, Adam Webster and Stefanos Tzimas are sidelined with injuries.
Carlos Baleba also crashed out of the AFCON with Cameroon last night, and he’s also unavailable.
**Predicted line-ups**
**Manchester United**: Bayindir, Dalot, Maguire, Yoro, Shaw, Mainoo, Ugarte, Cunha, Fernandes, Dorgu, Sesko.
**Brighton & Hove Albion**: Steele, Veltman, Dunk, Boscagli, De Cuyper, Milner, Gross, Mitoma, Gomez, Watson, Welbeck.