Manchester United host Brighton in the Carabao Cup third round at Old Trafford tonight, kick-off 8pm local time, and Carrick has confirmed that at least six senior players are unavailable, with Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford both rated as doubtful.

Between the two squads, reports on the eve of the tie put the confirmed absentee list at 13 players, with several more rated as doubts and the combined figure carrying some form of concern touching 15.

For a club of United’s resources, the depth of the list is the story before a ball is kicked.

The names Carrick will do without

Carlos Baleba, the summer signing from Brighton, misses the reunion with his old club through an ankle problem. Amad Diallo has been sidelined with an ankle issue that has ruled him out of every match of the 2026-27 season so far. Matthijs de Ligt is still working back from a back problem that has plagued him for months.

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Manuel Ugarte is the longest-term absentee, out with a cruciate ligament injury sustained on international duty at the 2026 World Cup and not expected back until the closing weeks of the season. Goalkeeper Tom Heaton is also unavailable.

Shaw, the England left-back, is close but not guaranteed after missing the derby with muscle tightness.

“He could possibly be fit for Brighton, but it’s not clear-cut,” Carrick said of Shaw at his pre-match press conference. “It’s a matter of a few days rather than anything else.”

Rashford is a fresh doubt after picking up a knock in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Manchester City.

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Carrick’s price has been cut

The injury list would be a headache on its own. It arrives with Carrick’s own position under active discussion.

United have won only one of their opening four Premier League matches and conceded seven goals without a clean sheet in the league. The derby loss, in which PGMOL later admitted an “error of judgement” over Erling Haaland’s goal, has not softened the mood around Old Trafford.

Bookmakers have cut Carrick’s odds of being the next Premier League manager sacked from 17/2 to 11/2. Fabrizio Romano has reported that the club’s hierarchy still backs him, with the message internally being that “Man Utd absolutely remain convinced that the future will be bright under Michael Carrick.”

Winning the Carabao Cup tie would not solve any of that. Losing it, at home, to a Brighton side also missing a slice of their first team, would sharpen the questions considerably.

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Brighton arrive short-handed too

Brighton have their own list to work around. Yankuba Minteh, Jack Hinshelwood, Zadok Yohanna, Evan Ferguson and Stefanos Tzimas are all ruled out, and Georginio Rutter and deadline-day signing Femi Azeez are both rated as doubts before kick-off.

Kick-off at Old Trafford is at 8pm local time, live on ITV1 and Sky Sports Main Event.

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