Confirmed: United XI to face Brighton

The boss has brought back Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani in attack, while Bruno Fernandes starts in midfield and Luke Shaw returns at left-back following his successful return to international football with England against Albania in the World Cup qualifiers.

The quartet come into the team at the expense of Donny van de Beek, Alex Telles, Nemanja Matic and the injured Anthony Martial, all of whom were in the XI in the 3-1 cup quarter-final defeat at the King Power Stadium before the international break.

Rashford joined up with the England squad for the qualifiers in Albania and against Poland but wasn’t fit to play. He missed the Leicester tie with injury too but is now back in Solskjaer's forward line.

Cavani, who came on as a 64th-minute substitute against the Foxes, is expected to spearhead the attack with Mason Greenwood, who scored our only goal against the Foxes, cutting in from the flank.

Meanwhile, Dean Henderson keeps his place in goal with David De Gea remaining on the bench.

Reds captain Harry Maguire, who scored England’s winner against Poland at Wembley last Wednesday, makes his 100th appearance for the club. 

Before the disappointing loss in the FA Cup, United had beaten AC Milan in Italy to progress in the Europa League and had beaten West Ham in the league to cement our position in the table, second behind runaway leaders Manchester City.

Defeats over the weekend for top-four rivals Leicester and Chelsea mean United could extend the points advantage in the race for the Champions League places.

United Academy graduate Danny Welbeck starts in the Brighton side on the stage where he scored numerous goals for the Reds prior to his departure in 2014.

Speaking to MUTV about his decision to start Henderson in goal, Ole said: “You know, we got nine league games, we got the Europa League, so with the two options I’ve got it’s a difficult one to leave one out, but both of them have done well enough to play."

The boss also revealed why Alex Telles is absent from the squad, explaining: "He was feeling a bit ill, not COVID-related but he’s not fit enough to play, no. We’ve filled the bench with good quality.

"Every game we’ve played against Brighton we feel like we had to really dig in and work hard and play well to get points," added Ole. "We know how good they are on the ball. The pace up front with Danny [Welbeck] as well, I think he’s added a dimension to their team, so we know that it’s a big game for us.

"If we get three points tonight, we’re in a very good position."

LINE-UPS

United: Henderson; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire (c), Shaw; Fred, Pogba; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Cavani.

Substitutes: De Gea, Tuanzebe, Williams, Amad, James, Matic, McTominay, van de Beek.

Brighton: Sanchez, White, Dunk, Veltman, Gross, Lallana, Bissouma, Moder, Trossard, Maupay, Welbeck.

Substitutes: Steele, Karbownik, Mac Allister, Jahanbakhsh, Alzate, Izquierdo, Pröpper, Caicedo, Zeqiri.

The game kicks off at 19:30 BST and you can follow live updates on ManUtd.com and in our Official App.