Photo by Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Photo by Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Manchester United will be looking to bounce back from their derby defeat when they face Brighton in the Carabao Cup.
Michael Carrick will be grateful for a quick turnaround after the controversial 1-0 defeat to Manchester City on the weekend, and up next is the start of the Carabao Cup campaign.
United were drawn to face Brighton, a fellow Premier League side, which represents another difficult match for the Red Devils at Old Trafford.
Not only have Brighton been a bogey team for United in recent years, but the Seagulls have also hit top form at the start of the 2026/27 season.
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Man United warned about Brighton by Fabian Hurzeler
Brighton head to Old Trafford fresh from a 5-0 win over Coventry City in the Premier League.
Wednesday night’s visitors are the top scorers in the league this season, and manager Fabian Hurzeler has warned United that his side are in a “ruthless” streak of form.
Speaking via Brighton’s website, Hurzeler said:
“It’s not about having one good goalscorer. It’s about having this flexibility of having many goalscorers, of having a lot of players who have the desire to score.
“If you have the desire to score, then you can score from all different positions. So it’s all about sacrificing things and making these runs into a box.
“I think that’s also a mindset thing. Of course we were very efficient today. We were quite ruthless in the right moment in front of goal and that’s a positive.
“We should also have this belief in ourselves, have this confidence in our quality that we can go to any place in the league and compete.
*“And now we have two big games ahead of us before the international break, and we take that belief into both of them.*“
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Man United’s leaky defence vs ruthless Brighton attack
In their opening six games this season, Brighton have scored 17 goals.
That is an average of just over 2.8 goals per game for United’s next opponents.
Meanwhile, United’s only clean sheet this season came in the Champions League against Sabah. Domestically, Carrick’s side have conceded seven goals in four games.
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There have been complaints about United’s defence, and the back line will surely face a tough test against a “ruthless” Brighton attack on Wednesday.
Anyone who thought the Brighton game would be a friendly follow-up to recover from the derby defeat should think otherwise.