Manuel Ugarte will replace Casemiro in the Manchester United starting lineup when they take on Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium on Sunday.
Manchester United will aim to end a topsy-turvy 2025/26 season with another memorable victory when they lock horns with Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium on Sunday evening. Michael Carrick has a new roster issue to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Casemiro will be unavailable to take on Brighton, with Carrick revealing in his pre-match press conference that the Brazilian international has played his final game for the club. Meanwhile, the English tactician continues to sweat over Benjamin Sesko’s fitness.
Additionally, Matthijs de Ligt (lower back) remains in the treatment room and will not feature again until next season. Meanwhile, during his press conference, Carrick paid tribute to Casemiro and revealed why the veteran midfielder would not face Brighton.
The Manchester United head coach said, “First of all on Casemiro, I was kind of decided that last week would be his last game. So, I think that went as well as we all could have hoped, to be honest. He’s been fantastic and I’ve said a lot of things about Case, how well he’s done for me since I’ve been here and for the whole club. It was decided it would be a good time for him to finish really.”
“It just felt the right time I think, for Case, it was decided and he was part of that as well. It was the right time, there is an element of balance, like I’ve just said, the last game, we’re not done, the season’s not done for us. We’re really conscious of that.”
“So, there’s a real balance between trying new things, moving forward, keep evolving, there are always games we’ll try different things in that some might notice, some people might not notice others. So, I think the biggest thing is we’re really conscious to respect this last game, what it stands for and obviously try and make the best of it for us. We want to go down there and put in a good performance and try to win the game.”
Senne Lammens is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Manchester United lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday. The heavily-rotated backline will feature Noussair Mazraoui, Leny Yoro, Ayden Heaven, and Luke Shaw, with Carrick making a few rotations in the backline.
As for the midfield unit, Manuel Ugarte will line up alongside Kobbie Mainoo in the double pivot, with Bruno Fernandes reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Matheus Cunha will lead the line for the away side against Brighton, with Patrick Dorgu and Bryan Mbeumo being the two wide attackers.
Predicted Manchester United XI: Lammens; Mazraoui, Yoro, Heaven, Shaw; Mainoo, Ugarte; Mbeumo, Bruno Fernandes, Dorgu; Cunha
