🏏 Sat, 2 May 2026 12:00 BST
Manchester United Women
vs
Brighton Women
Positions estimated (no formation data from the API)
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Four Japanese internationals are involved in this one. Hinata Miyazawa, the Golden Boot winner at the 2023 Women's World Cup, starts for Manchester United, while Brighton name Takako Seike and Moeka Minami in their XI with Fuka Tsunoda among the substitutes. Seike, Minami and Tsunoda all came through Urawa Reds Ladies, giving the fixture a strong Nadeshiko Japan flavour.
- Miyazawa, 26, arrived from Mynavi Sendai Ladies and stands just 157cm, but her pace and close control make her a constant problem down the right. Beyond the 2023 World Cup Golden Boot, she produced a stunning strike in the Manchester derby during the 2025-26 campaign and was named player of the match for it.
- Brighton's Seike is the forward who marked her WSL debut with a hat-trick, the first player ever to do so. The 29-year-old swept the WE League individual honours in 2023-24, taking the Golden Boot, MVP award and a place in the Best XI before moving to England in 2024. She can fill every position bar goalkeeper, and brings both running power and end product.
- At the back for Brighton is 27-year-old centre-half Moeka Minami, a Serie A Femminile title winner with AS Roma who signed permanently in June 2025 and now lines up alongside her old Urawa team-mate Seike. A captain for Japan at U-19 Asian Cup and U-20 World Cup level, her organisation will be tested by United's forward line led by Melvine Malard.
- There is a reunion element too. United captain Maya Le Tissier, the 24-year-old from Guernsey, joined from Brighton and was handed the armband at 22 before earning a PFA WSL Team of the Year selection. Midfielder Julia Zigiotti Olme also spent time at Brighton and brings a Bundesliga title from her Bayern Munich days to the Sweden international's work rate.
- United's attack is stacked with major-tournament pedigree. Malard is a France international striker who won four Champions League titles at Lyon and thrives on sharp movement inside the box. Behind her, academy graduate Ella Toone was central to England's EURO 2022 triumph, Jess Park arrived from Manchester City in September 2025 as a EURO 2025 winner, and 32-year-old Fridolina Rolfo came from Barcelona.
- Brighton can match that creativity. Fran Kirby, nicknamed Mini Messi, won a stack of trophies at Chelsea and was twice named PFA Players' Player of the Year before moving to the south coast in 2024. Jelena Cankovic added two WSL titles at Chelsea to spells at Barcelona and Rosengard, while on-loan Arsenal forward Rosa Kafaji scored 28 goals during her time at BK Hacken.
- The goalkeeping duel is worth the entry alone. United's Phallon Tullis-Joyce is a 185cm United States international who shared the WSL Golden Glove in 2024-25 with 13 clean sheets. Brighton counter with Chiamaka Nnadozie, the 180cm Nigeria number one who joined from Paris FC in the summer of 2025 and collected a CAF award in 2025.
- Both benches carry genuine threat. United can call on Lea Schuller, the Germany striker who was a Bundesliga top scorer at Bayern Munich before signing in December 2025, plus 21-year-old Ellen Wangerheim, a league and cup winner with Hammarby. Brighton's options include Olaug Tvedten, a two-time top scorer in Norway's Toppserien, and Carla Camacho, a U-17 World Cup winner signed from Real Madrid.