Manchester United and Brighton kick off their quest for FA Cup glory in the 2025-26 campaign when they face off at Old Trafford on Sunday evening.The teams both played out stalemates in their most rec...
Manchester United and Brighton kick off their quest for FA Cup glory in the 2025-26 campaign when they face off at Old Trafford on Sunday evening.
The teams both played out stalemates in their most recent league outings, with the hosts held by Burnley and the visitors securing a hard-fought point against Manchester City.
Man United began life post Ruben Amorim away at Turf Moor, where they played out a third consecutive share of the spoils to lose further ground in the race for European football.
Still, Benjamin Sesko’s brace and the return of Bruno Fernandes last time out were huge positives for the Red Devils, who are now unbeaten in eight of their last nine games across all competitions, albeit only winning on three occasions.
United’s next two league matches are against Manchester City and Arsenal, but they must first navigate an FA Cup third-round tie against Brighton.
Not since the 1979-80 season have United suffered an early exit from the competition, and interim manager Darren Fletcher will hope to keep that run going before handing over the reins with his side in talks with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
United cruised to a 4-2 victory over Brighton in October’s clash, though it was only their second win in six meetings.
Sunday’s encounter will see the teams go head-to-head on cup duty for the fourth time since 2018, and having won each of the previous three ties, the hosts have reason for optimism.
After a splendid run of three wins and a draw from four outings in November, Brighton have seen their momentum take a huge hit off the back of one win from the subsequent eight matches.
However, Fabian Hurzeler’s men showed great spirit to come away from the Etihad Stadium with a positive result in Wednesday’s clash against Man City.
Back on the score sheet for the first time since September, Kaoru Mitoma struck on the hour mark to cancel out Erling Braut Haaland’s penalty just shy of the interval.
Haaland’s opener in the aforementioned game saw Brighton concede first for a fifth time in seven outings, something the Seagulls will be wary of ahead of their trip to Old Trafford.
Sunday’s visitors have not won on the road in four matches, but their most recent performance in Manchester suggests there is a good chance they end that dry patch this weekend.
Category: General Sports
