Manchester United aiming to preserve 46-year FA Cup record against Brighton & Hove Albion | OneFootball

Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion kick off their quest for FA Cup glory when they face off at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The teams both played out stalemates in their most recent league outings, with United held by Burnley and the visitors securing a hard-fought point against Manchester City.

Man United began life after Ruben Amorim at Turf Moor, where they played out a third consecutive draw to lose further ground in the race for European football.

However, Benjamin Sesko’s brace and Bruno Fernandes’ return were huge positives for the Red Devils, who are now unbeaten in eight of their last nine games across all competitions.

United’s next two league matches are against Manchester City and Arsenal, but they must first navigate an FA Cup third-round tie against Brighton.

The Red Devils haven’t suffered an early exit from the competition since 1979/80.

Interim manager Darren Fletcher will hope to keep that run going before handing over the reins to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Michael Carrick.

After a splendid run of three wins and a draw from four outings in November, Brighton’s momentum has taken a huge hit off the back of one win from eight subsequent matches.

However, Fabian Hurzeler’s men showed great spirit to come away from the Etihad Stadium with a positive result in Wednesday’s clash against Man City.

Kaoru Mitoma struck on the hour mark to cancel out Erling Braut Haaland’s penalty.

Sunday’s visitors have not won on the road in four matches, but their most recent performance in Manchester suggests there is a good chance they could end that dry patch this weekend.