Man Utd will play just 40 games this season so what is left to play for after FA Cup exit to Brighton?

No manager, no trophy hopes, no noise. The final whistle against Brighton was met with a few boos, then stunned silence. Just where do Manchester United go from here?

One statistic flew around United's FA Cup defeat to Brighton. 40 games - that is how long United's season will be. Their shortest season since the 1914-15 campaign, where there were no cup games due to the First World War.

Defeat to Grimsby in the Carabao Cup second round, then a first ever defeat to Brighton in the FA Cup also made it the first time United have been knocked out the two domestic cup competitions at the first hurdle since the 1981-82 season.

That was not the only déjà vu United experienced on Sunday night. Another was Danny Welbeck. The last time United had 45 games or less in the season was 11 years ago, when Welbeck scored a FA Cup winner in a 2-1 win at Old Trafford for Arsenal. Sounds familiar.

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And with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick the two main contenders for the United interim job - having held those positions in the past - it's one nod to the past too many.

So what does the future hold?

United are now one of only three Premier League teams who just have top-flight football on their calendar between now and May, the others being Bournemouth and Everton. Even the bottom five teams in the division still have a chance of a trophy this season. United's silverware ship has sailed.

There is still a Champions League place still up for grabs, with the club three points behind fourth place in a race that even could see fifth place qualify - and interim head coach Darren Fletcher believes this team can qualify for Europe's top table next season.

"That can be achieved this season," said Fletcher. "It's not what fans want to hear about Manchester United. They should be winning cups and challenging for the Premier League.

"That is where we're at. We have to face that and deal with that. It's not Manchester United level and what's expected. But we have to do something about that. We have to take a step forward by qualifying for the Champions League, which is important for a number of reasons.

"The players have to step up. They will come together. I challenge them to do that, they have enough quality and leaders to do that.

"Don't waste the season, that is the challenge I would set."

Champions League football from here would represent success for United - it wouldn't for the old version of United that we used to know but it absolutely would for this current standard of the club. But even then, there are a few problems in the way of that goal.

United's next two games - which follow this latest blow - are against the two best teams in the country. Manchester City come to Old Trafford next. It's a difficult challenge anyway, but it's even harder when nobody inside the club knows who will take the team for that game.

Come the end of Arsenal away, the game after the Manchester derby, United could be nine points adrift of the top four. It's not impossible that United fail to win both, but given where they are right now and Fletcher calling them a "fragile" team, it's hard to see any other outcome.

Another problem is: can this United team be really backed to qualify for the Champions League?

The Opta supercomputer gives them a 4.9 per cent chance of reaching that goal come May. Right now, four teams are statistically better placed than United to finish in the top four. That includes fifth-placed Brentford, who Opta believe has twice as much of a chance than United of getting there.

With Keith Andrews' side being a club completely aligned top to bottom, making transfers to improve the squad, possessing an excellent home form and a striker on course for over 30 goals for the campaign, how do you argue against that logic when United have the opposite of all of them?

United are currently predicted to finish eighth, ten points off the Champions League places, which may not even be enough for European football. The prospect Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS' two full seasons at the club ending in back-to-back trophyless campaigns and back-to-back seasons without Europe is a more than realistic possibility.

No wonder there was a banner claiming Ratcliffe's inability to fix the current situation - and a protest planned for the upcoming Fulham game about the current ownership structure being unfit for purpose.

Like at full-time against Brighton on Sunday, United fans have little to shout about between now and May. Perhaps the silver lining for them is - with 17 games of the season to go - they don't have to put themselves through the mill for much longer.

Watch Manchester United's next two games against Man City and Arsenal live on Sky Sports on January 17 and January 25.

(c) Sky Sports 2026: Man Utd will play just 40 games this season so what is left to play for after FA Cup exit to Brighton?