STAR FOOTBALL PREVIEW Weds: Manchester United v Brighton

Brighton will look to continue their fine run of results at Old Trafford when they travel to Manchester in the EFL Cup on Wednesday night, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.

The Seagulls have won four of their last five visits to the Theatre of Dreams and that spells trouble for a United side desperate for a confidence booster after Sunday’s bitterly disappointing performance against 10-man Manchester City.

Michael Carrick’s side have amassed just four league points from a possible 12 so far – three fewer than their South Coast rivals – and the Reds are struggling noticeably to find any cohesiveness in their attacking play, with key offensive players Bruno Fernandes, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo all yet to hit anything like their best form post World Cup.

That should all mean that Carrick is likely to freshen up the attack and give starts to the likes of Benjamin Sesko, Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo as United look to avoid going out of this competition at the first juncture, as they famously did at Grimsby 12 months ago.

Manchester United vs Brighton
EFL Cup Round Three
20:00 ITV1 HD / ITVX

LAST FIVE STATS

HEAD-TO-HEAD
MAY 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Brighton 0-3 Manchester United
JAN 2026 FA CUP Manchester United 1-2 Brighton
OCT 2025 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester United 4-2 Brighton
JAN 2025 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester United 1-3 Brighton
AUG 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE Brighton 2-1 Manchester United

MANCHESTER UNITED
SEP 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester United 0-1 Manchester City
SEP 2026 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Manchester United 4-0 Sabah Baku
SEP 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Everton 2-2 Manchester United
AUG 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester United 5-2 Ipswich
AUG 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Hull 2-0 Manchester United

BRIGHTON
SEP 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Coventry 0-5 Brighton
SEP 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Brighton 1-1 Leeds
SEP 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Chelsea 4-3 Brighton
AUG 2026 EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE Brighton 4-0 Tromso
AUG 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Brighton 4-0 Aston Villa

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Unlike United, Brighton cut loose when their opponents went down to 10 men at the weekend, with the 5-0 romp at Coventry taking their goals tally to 17 after just five games in all competitions.

And, Fabian Hurzeler’s side are surely going to fancy their chances of breaking through a shaky United rearguard that has already shipped seven league goals.

There have been at least three goals in six of the last seven meetings between these clubs and it’s not difficult to see this turning into another entertaining encounter.

However, it’s the visitors that make more appeal in the goal markets, at the prices. Brighton have scored two or more goals on their last FIVE visits to Old Trafford (in all comps), and we can back the Seagulls to extend that sequence at 29/20 with starsports.bet.

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