Man Utd fans have realised who might have to play against Brighton in the FA Cup

Manchester United fans are starting to worry about who might play for them in defence in just over a week's time for their FA Cup semi-final with Brighton & Hove Albion.

It says something about how messy the end of a match is when throwing away a two goal lead in the final 10 minutes aren't necessarily the worst things that happened to your team.

That's what happened to United on Thursday night, when they drew their Europa League quarter-final first leg with the tournament's perennial winners, Sevilla.

Erik ten Hag's side went 2-0 up through two Marcel Sabitzer strikes, and everything looked to be going pretty smoothly, even with Marcus Rashford out injured.

Things started going wrong for them when Bruno Fernandes picked up a ridiculous yellow card, that keeps him out of the second leg next week.

Then it only got worse, as Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez both went off injured in the second half, with the latter looking particularly nasty.

And that could leave Ten Hag in a right pickle when it comes to their second semi-final of the season, at Wembley on April 23rd, against Brighton.

Harry Maguire's yellow card in the chaotic quarter-final, against Fulham, means the England captain is suspended for the next round.

If Varane and Martinez are out then it causes a huge problem for the manager, especially with Luke Shaw already out even before Thursday.

And that has left believing that they could even see the return of Phil Jones to the starting line up, for the game against Roberto de Zerbi's side.

"That’s where Phil Jones comes in," said one fan.

"Return of the legend," added a second, alongside the famous GIF of the defender heading the ball whilst on the floor.

With the usual comparison to the Chicago Bulls docuseries, a third replied, "Off goes Phil Jones....The last dance!"

"Sir Phillip Jones masterclass. I cannot wait," claimed a fourth.

Upgrading him from a Sir to a Lord, another said, "It’s time to unleash our most powerful weapon, Lord Phil Jones."

However, it's probably not good for the team to be relying on the 31-year-old, considering how little football he has played in recent years.

The former England international made just five appearances last season and only eight in the 2019/20 season, completely missing out in the 21/22 campaign.

He has also yet to appear under Ten Hag, and was left being a pundit during the Carabao Cup final earlier this year, it's more likely Scott McTominay will fill in at this rate.

Featured Image Credit: BT Sport/Alamy

Topics: Manchester United, Phil Jones, Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, FA Cup, Brighton And Hove Albion, Premier League, Europa League

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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