Key events
Poor Joshua Zirkzee cannot get a game in the Carabao Cup. I am not sure he will get many minutes in the months to come.
Max Dowman continues to be good. Mikel Merino can similarities to a certain Lamine Yamal, which is high praise.
The PM has arrived for the Big Match.
The Manchester United team news is dominated by the absence of a 15-year-old. JJ Gabriel has had his eye on the Old Trafford exit for a while and is eyeing up a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona, with United struggling to convince him his future lies in Manchester.
Karl Darlow gets his debut as he looks to prove himself as a suitable backup for Senne Lammens.
Staring lineups: Manchester United v Brighton
Manchester United: Darlow; Mazraoui, Yoro, Heaven, Dalot; Andrey Santos, Tielemans; Lacey, Mount; Rashford; Sesko
Subs: Lammens, Amass, Maguire, Fernandes, Mainoo, T. Fletcher, Cunha, Mbeumo, Zirkzee
Brighton: Steele; Costinha, Vuskovic, Boscagli, Stuijk, Hadjam; Chema, O’Riley, Gross; Yalcouye, Kostoulas,
Subs: Verbruggen, Dunk, Rutter, Promise, Osman, Kadioglu, Gomez, Ayari, De Cuyper
Starting lineups: Coventry v Aston Villa
Coventry: Bentley; Latibeaudiere, Amenda, Mfuni, Thomas; Yirenkyi, Hamer, Torp, Sakamento, Gboho, Cherif
Subs: Wilson, Pinnock, Grimes, Simms, Mason-Clark, Onyeka, Tchaouna, Bidwell, Thomas-Asante
Aston Villa: Bizot; Wan-Bissaka, Harwood-Bellis, Mings, Ruggeri; Bogarde, Barkley, McGinn; Mbaye, Abraham, Hemmings
Subs: Suzuki, Cash, Lindelof, Kamara, Buendia, Jackson, Garnacho, Manzambi, Alysson
“I see that David Moyes has declined to rotate his squad for tonight,” writes Gary Naylor. “I presume the car park attendant, the tea lady and Andy Burnham all forgot to bring their boots.”
I was upset to not get the call.
Starting lineups: Fleetwood v Sheffield United
Fleetwood: Lynch; Rooney, Bennett, Potter, Andrew; McCann, Neal, Helm; Evans, Loupalo-Bi
Subs: Pradic, Davies, Thomas, Murphy, Haughey, Coughlan, Robertson, Cirino, Dempsey
Sheffield United: Cooper; Doherty, Tanganga, McGuinness, Norrington-Davies; Arblaster, Rothwell, Riedewald; Campbell, Cannnn, Donovan
Subs: Davies, Choudhury, Ayew, Kitching, Shackleton, Brereton-Diaz, Baptiste, Peck, Bamford
Starting lineups: Everton v Wolves
Everton: Pickford; Maitland-Niles, O’Brien, Keane, Mykolenko; Garner, Hackney, Dewsbury-Hall; Dibling, Grealish; Barry
Subs: Travers, King, Branthwaite, Tarkowski, George, Johnson, Alcaraz, Graham, Olayiwola
Wolves: Virginia; Tchatchoua, Toti, Krejci, Konan; Traore, James, Doyle, Chirewa; Neave, Jimenez
Subs: Ruddy, Trippier, Bueno, Muntesi, Armstrong, Traore, Bellegarde; Djiga, Mane
Preamble
The constant rollercoaster that is Manchester United Football Club is making a detour to the Carabao Cup in the latest attempt to kickstart their domestic season. Sunday’s derby defeat was caused somewhat by VAR’s ineptitude but that just glossed over the poor performance from Michael Carrick’s charges. The manager had seemingly fixed a lot of Old Trafford’s problem when put in charge after Ruben Amorim’s sacking but many have resurfaced since his permanent appointment despite a £150m summer spend on midfielders. If they were to lose the next two matches, tonight against Brighton and way to Fulham on Sunday, before an elongated international break, then plenty of words will be written to fill the void.
Coventry City v Aston Villa screams of two teams who will be keen to jump out of the competition, one because they need to focus on surviving after collecting zero points from four games, while the other has bigger fish to fry. Maybe I am being too negative on the matter and the nature of it being a Midlands derby will liven it up for everyone involved.
Meanwhile, there will be plenty of fun at Hill Dickinson Stadium where the prime minister Andy Burnham and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney will be in attendance for Everton v Wolves.
This is as big as it gets for Fleetwood Town as they play host to Championship Sheffield United in search of a glorious upset. Amid two all-Premier League ties and another that was a top-flight fixture last season, maybe we should focus on the Cod Army coming up against Chris Wilder to see who reaches the fourth round.
Fixtures:
Everton v Wolves 7.45pm BST
Fleetwood v Sheffield United 7.45pm BST
Coventry v Aston Villa 8pm BST
Manchester United v Brighton 8pm BST
