Manchester United welcome Brighton to Old Trafford this afternoon desperately hoping to advance in the FA Cup
Manchester United could give a full debut to Shea Lacey in the FA Cup third round this afternoon(Image: Getty Images/Pick the Team)
Manchester United begin their FA Cup campaign this afternoon with the pressure firmly on the Reds to progress to the fourth round of the competition. An early Carabao Cup exit at Grimsby Town piles the expectation on United to advance and give the fans some hope of silverware this season.
As such, interim head coach Darren Fletcher will be eager to keep his side relatively strong, particularly with a challenging Brighton and Hove Albion team visiting the Theatre of Dreams. That does not mean Fletcher will be against making changes though in a bid to keep his squad fresh.
Ayden Heaven has been used plenty over Christmas and New Year so there is certainly a case for dropping him to the bench and welcoming Leny Yoro back into the starting XI. The Frenchman is a year older than Heaven and has played a part in every single Premier League match this season.
However, his confidence has been knocked recently so a positive performance against Brighton could be just what he needs to kickstart his 2026. In midfield, Casemiro looked tired at Turf Moor on Wednesday night. Two holding midfielders are not necessarily the way to go in a 4-2-3-1 system so playing Kobbie Mainoo alongside Manuel Ugarte would be a positive alteration.
Fletcher admitted Mainoo was hard to read on Friday, so it was unclear if he was happy or not at present, but a start at Old Trafford would certainly perk him up. Perhaps the biggest decision Fletcher could make would be to give Shea Lacey his full debut for the club. The 18-year-old only had six minutes at Burnley but he made that count as he showed plenty of attacking promise down the right-hand side and nearly bagged himself his first goal for the club in the process.
Fletcher spoke at length in his press conference about the academy and how pleased he has been with the attitude of the youngsters. This is in stark contrast to Amorim’s complaints not too long ago. Alongside Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha, the teenager would have plenty of experience to help him through what could be a tough game.
Finally, fresh off the back of a brace at Turf Moor, Benjamin Sesko deserves a chance to keep that momentum going in the FA Cup.
United predicted XI vs Burnley: Lammens; Dalot, Yoro, Martinez, Shaw; Ugarte, Mainoo; Lacey, Fernandes, Cunha; Sesko
Manchester United’s predicted XI to face Brighton in the FA Cup(Image: )