Manchester United looked strong against a resilient Brighton and Hove Albion, as their 3-0 victory was enough to secure passage to the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.

United's victory was nowhere near as dramatic as Saturday's league meeting between the two sides, but how did the much-changed men in red shape up against a similarly-rotated Brighton outfit?

  • Defence

Dean Henderson: 7/10 – In his quest to displace David de Gea of the starting role as number one, Dean Henderson did little wrong against Brighton, and even made some solid saves – including a vital stop at 1-0 - in the process. While Brighton seldom threatened the United goal during the evening, there was no concern about United’s man between the sticks, as there have been in previous weeks.

 

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Diogo Dalot: 5/10 – If this League Cup tie was Dalot’s attempt to sell himself in the shop window with little under a week remaining in the transfer window, he didn’t give a great account of himself. The Portuguese wing-back offered little going forward and looked shaky defensively.

Victor Lindelof: 6/10 – In the absence of usual partner Harry Maguire, it may have been understandable for Lindelof’s performance to take a dip. However, aside from one late challenge that could be considered questionable, the Swede was solid – despite a lack of real challenge from the hosts.

Eric Bailly: 7/10 – Bailly’s encouraging start to the season continued with a defensively-assured performance against Brighton. His strong performance against the Seagulls surely puts him well in line for a starting spot against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Brandon Williams: 7/10 – A couple of neat passes, some superb driving runs and looking confident throughout: Brandon Williams did not disappoint against Brighton. In a dire first half, the young full-back looked promising and engaged, and could challenge Luke Shaw’s starting spot ahead of Sunday’s clash with Spurs.

Midfield

Scott McTominay: 7/10 – McTominay impressed throughout the evening, his guided header two minutes from the interval topping off a neat overall showing from the midfielder. He looked confident driving forward from his defensive position and was calm under pressure.

Fred: 5/10 – Fred’s worrying habit of sluggishly starting seasons continued against Brighton as the midfielder looked out of his depth. The midfielder misplaced possession several times throughout the evening and overall looked poor.

Donny van de Beek: 6/10 – Van de Beek couldn’t get going in the first half; looking isolated behind the striker as the game progressed at near-pedestrian pace. As the second period quickened in intensity, the new recruit became more present, but there is still much to do for the Dutchman if he is to claim a regular starting spot.

  • Attack

Juan Mata: 8/10 – Juan Mata was superb against Brighton, as, despite losing a step of pace over the last few years, he looked confident on the right, consistently beating his defender and passing the ball extremely well. He floated in a lovely cross for Scott McTominay’s opener, and added United’s second with a deftly-timed finish, slotting it past Jason Steele.

Daniel James: 5/10 – If rumours are true that Daniel James will soon be loaned out, then this performance justified why. James was a shadow throughout the evening, and it was such a shame to see the Welshman unable to get going. A year at a lower-level Premier League team could do the raw winger the world of good as he really struggled against Brighton.

Odion Ighalo: 5/10 – Ighalo had the same issue that has plagued his United career thus far: he was isolated and had nobody to feed off. One of the biggest factors behind Ighalo’s great spell at Watford was his partnership with Troy Deeney, but he had no strike partner to link-up with this evening and it was evident.

Paul Pogba: 6/10 – Pogba looked good off the bench, and was a welcome addition to a lethargic United side during the second half. He looked to have netted a lovely free-kick, but upon further review, United’s third took a fair deflection from the Brighton wall.

Marcus Rashford: 5/10 – It was not the best of evenings for Rashford as he was fairly absent when brought onto the pitch. He was by no means dreadful, but it was a nondescript performance from the front-man who was simply getting more sharpness on the pitch through his introduction.

Jesse Lingard was also introduced later in the first-half, but not for long enough to be given an accurate rating.

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