Overview
After the controversial defeat to Man City, Man United must quickly regain form when hosting Brighton in the 3rd round of the Carabao Cup. However, the performance of the team under Michael Carrick is raising many questions.
The 199th Manchester Derby closed with a 0-1 defeat for Man United, in a match where Phil Foden was sent off from the 23rd minute. Despite playing with one more player, the Old Trafford home team still could not penetrate Man City's defense.
Erling Haaland scored the decisive goal in the second half, although this situation was controversial when Enzo Fernandez was said to be offside and affected Lisandro Martinez's defense. VAR then recognized the goal, making Man United even more disappointed.
Carrick's team has every reason to complain about this decision, but the bigger problem lies in their performance. Gianluigi Donnarumma had almost no work for most of the match and only had a significant save in injury time.
Man United started the new season with only one win after four Premier League rounds, along with one draw and two defeats. The defense has also not kept a clean sheet, while 7 goals conceded caused them to soon be left behind in the race in the top group.
Before returning to the Premier League to play away at Fulham's stadium, Man United has the opportunity to regain the feeling of victory when they host Brighton in the Carabao Cup.
Man United returned to this tournament after a 0-1 defeat to Grimsby Town in the second round last season. The "Red Devils" have won the Carabao Cup six times, the most recently in the 2022-2023 season. In the two seasons 1994-1995 and 1995-1996, they were both eliminated before the 4th round.
Man United also has an unfavorable record against Brighton in cup tournaments recently. They lost 1-2 right at Old Trafford in the 3rd round of the FA Cup in January. However, the "Red Devils" defeated Brighton 3-0 in the Premier League in May.
While Man United is looking for stability, Brighton enters the match with opposite form. Fabian Hurzeler's team is currently fourth in the Premier League with 7 points after four rounds, including two wins, one draw and one defeat.
Brighton have scored 13 goals in the first 4 matches of the season, their best record in this period in 14 seasons playing in the highest league in England.
Last weekend, Brighton showed strength when defeating Coventry City 5-0 away. 5 different players scored in Brighton's second big win in the Premier League. Goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was also mentioned after making six saves, thereby having his fourth clean sheet in six appearances in all competitions this season.
Carabao Cup is a different story for Brighton. They only reached the quarter-finals of the tournament once, in the 1978-1979 season. In the last six seasons, Brighton has been eliminated in the 4th round five times and stopped once in the 3rd round.
Expected lineup:
Man United: Lammens, Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Mazraoui, Mainoo, Santos, Mbeumo, Fernandes, Dorgu, Sesko.
Verbruggen, Kadioglu, Dunk, Vuskovic, Boscagli, Gross, Ayari, Gomez, Yalcouye, De Cuyper, Kostoulas.
The match between Man United and Brighton takes place at 2:00 AM on September 17 (Vietnam time).
