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Gabriel Martinelli’s hat-trick gave Arsenal a 4-1 win at Portsmouth in their third round tie. Daniel Harris was watching that game.
Team news: Mainoo starts
Kobbie Mainoo starts for the first time since the Carabao Cup defeat to Grimsby in August. He replaces Casemiro in one of three changes from Man Utd’s draw at Burnley. Mason Mount and Leny Yoro come in for Luke Shaw and Ayden Heaven, with Patrick Dorgu moving from right wing to left-back. Darren Fletcher’s sons, Jack and Tyler, are on the bench.
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler has gone Full Rotation by changing more than half the team that drew away to Manchester City. Jason Steele, Diego Coppola, Olivier Boscagli, Joel Veltman, Brajan Gruda and Danny Welbeck replace Bart Verbruggen, Jan Paul van Hecke, Lewis Dunk, Maxim De Cuyper, Yasin Ayari and Kaoru Mitoma.
Man Utd (poss 4-2-3-1) Lammens; Dalot, Yoro, Martinez, Dorgu; Ugarte, Mainoo; Mount, Fernandes, Cunha; Sesko.
Subs: Bayindir, Heaven, Maguire, Malacia, Casemiro, J Fletcher, T Fletcher, Lacey, Zirkzee.
Brighton (poss 4-2-3-1) Steele; Veltman, Coppola, Boscagli, Kadioglu; Hinshelwood, Gross; Gruda, Rutter, Gomez; Welbeck.
Subs: Verbruggen, Dunk, Van Hecke, Watson, Kostoula, Mitoma, Ayari, Tasker, Howell.
Philip Cornwall
It is hard for anyone much under 40 to grasp how important the FA Cup final used to be, how simultaneously desirable going to the Wembley showpiece was to an English football fanatic growing up in the 1970s and 80s. One of only two matches you knew would be televised live (along with England v Scotland), it overshadowed league football in a way unthinkable today.
In 1983, aged 15, I travelled to watch the 1983 final at the home of a Manchester United-supporting friend who lived at the far end of the London Underground line that runs through Wembley. Neither my friend Simon nor I settled down to watch United play Brighton with any thought of what might happen next.
Jamie Jackson
Ole Gunnar Solskjær has had face-to-face talks with Manchester United regarding becoming the interim manager until the end of the season.
The Norwegian is vying with Michael Carrick for the role and wass expected to meet Omar Berrada, United’s chief executive, and Jason Wilcox, the director of football, at the club’s Carrington training base on Saturday.
Carrick is thought to have been interviewed on Thursday by Berrada and Wilcox. While the former United midfielder and Solskjær are the favourites, the current caretaker manager, Darren Fletcher, cannot be completely ruled out. The Scot oversaw United’s 2-2 draw at Burnley on Wednesday and will again take charge of Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Brighton at Old Trafford.
Preamble
And so to Old Trafford for one of the ties of the FA Cup third round. Manchester United v Brighton is a repeat of the famous 1983 final and a meeting of two pretty equal teams who are separated by only three points in the league.
Old Trafford has become the theatre of nostalgia since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, and here’s one for those who like to live in the past. If United go out today, their chances of winning a trophy will be over by 11 January – the earliest such date since World War II.
Brighton are always awkward opponents for United – they’ve won six of the last nine games, including three of the last four at Old Trafford – and their form has picked up after a pre-Christmas slump. Don’t be surprised if it goes the distance –just like the FA Cup semi-final of 2023, not to mention the final of 1983.
Kick off 4.30pm.
