FA Cup semi-final: Injury update on four Brighton players, Manchester United facing defensive crisis

The Albion are aiming to reach their second-ever FA Cup final when they face Erik ten Hag’s side at Wembley, knowing a victory will book them a spot in the coveted match on June 3 against either Manchester City or Sheffield United.

The Seagulls go into the cup tie in good form, losing just one of their last nine games and most recently securing a famous 2-1 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, thanks to a Julio Enciso wondergoal.

Despite this, Roberto De Zerbi may be in danger of being without eight first-team players for Sunday’s game due to injuries, as the wear and tear of a intense season begins to take its toll.

Evan Ferguson, Adam Webster and Joel Veltman all had to be substituted in the win over Chelsea with injury issues. In the pre-match press conference, De Zerbi said he it was ‘not clear’ whether they trio would be available for Sunday’s game.

De Zerbi said: “It is not clear, we have another two days. We have time to understand the situation and analyse the decision.”

Jason Steele is still suffering with a knock which kept him out of the Chelsea game, meaning Robert Sanchez is likely to start in goal.

Adam Lallana, Jakob Moder, Jeremey Sarmiento and Tariq Lamptey will all continue with there recoveries from long-term injuries and will not be available.

Manchester United also have a number of injury worries to contend with, having already played 52 games this season across four competitions.

Their most recent result saw them crash out of the Europa League at the quarter-final stage, after a dismal display saw them lose 3-0 to Sevilla, less then 72 hours before they face Brighton.

Ten of the players that started the game in the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium also played United’s previous game against Nottingham Forest, which they won 2-0, with the only exception being Bruno Fernandes, who was suspended for the second leg tie.

Marcel Sabritzer was back in the side, after pulling out of the Forest game in the warm up with an injury problem and is expected to be available for the semi-final.

Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia have all had faced time on the side-lines in recent weeks, but were all back on the bench on Thursday and will hope to start on Sunday.

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The biggest issues facing manager Erik ten Hag lie in his lack of centre back options. Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane are both out, Harry Maguire is suspended and Phil Jones has not featured this season due to fitness issues.

This leaves the 12-time FA Cup winners with just Victor Lindelöf available, meaning midfielder Scott McTominay is likely to start alongside the Swedish international at the heart of the defence.

Ten Hag will be hoping to reach his second cup final as United manager, having already lead the Red Devils to EFL Cup glory in February, with a 2-0 win against Newcastle.

To do so, he will have to overcome the team that inflicted defeated upon him in his first game as Manchester United manager. A Pascal Gross double secured Brighton a historic 2-1 win on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.