Brighton vs Manchester United
Time – India: 17:00 PM; UK: 12:30 PM (Saturday)
Venue – The American Express Community Stadium
Referee – Chris Kavanagh
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United side got off to a poor start to their Premier League campaign when they lost at home to Crystal Palace last weekend.
The Premier League giants looked undercooked fitness-wise and were short of ideas as Palace won their second consecutive game at Old Trafford in the Premier League. Ahead of their trip to Brighton today, Manchester United will be desperate to change the headlines and get their first league win of the new season.
Brighton were beaten by Chelsea on the opening weekend but they produced a brilliant away performance to beat Newcastle United 3-0 in their second league game. They are coming into the game high on confidence and will fancy their chances against a Manchester United side who are short of pre-season and confidence.
Brighton vs Manchester United: Head-to-Head
Total matches (all competitions): 23
Brighton wins: 3
Manchester United wins: 15
Draws: 5
The two teams met for the first time in 1909 in an FA Cup game that Manchester United won 1-0. The Red Devils have dominated the fixture and the last time they played each other was in June when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side hammered Brighton 3-0 at the Amex Stadium.
Brighton did beat Manchester United twice in 2018 but the Red Devils have won the last three games against the Seagulls.
Manchester United do have the edge in the overall head-to-head in the Premier League as well with five wins out of seven games.
Brighton vs Manchester United: Recent Form
The Seagulls are coming into the game on the back of a 3-0 win over Newcastle United away from home. But Manchester United are in need of a confidence-booster as they lost at home against Crystal Palace last weekend.
Both the sides did win their Carabao Cup games in mid-week with Manchester United beating Luton Town and Brighton prevailing over Preston North End.
Brighton: W-W-W-L-W (All competitions)
Manchester United: W-L-L-W-W (All competitions)
Brighton vs Manchester United: Team news
Brighton
Brighton will be without Yves Bissouma after he was sent off for his accidental-but-dangerous kick to the face of Newcastle United star Jamal Lewis last weekend.
Aaron Connolly and Tariq Lamptey are both minor doubts but are expected to shake off their problems to face Manchester United.
Jose Izquierdo, Florin Andone and Christian Walton are all still on the sidelines with injury.
Manchester United
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has more or less the full squad to choose from except defenders Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones who are recovering from injuries.
Chris Smalling is likely to remain out as he looks to seal a move away from Manchester United in the final stretch of the transfer window.
Brighton vs Manchester United: Probable XI
Brighton’s expected starting line-up: Ryan; White, Dunk, Webster; Lamptey, Propper, Alzate, March; Trossard, Connolly, Maupay
Manchester United’s expected starting line-up:De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Bailly, Maguire, Shaw; Pogba, Van de Beek; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial
Brighton vs Manchester United: Where to watch
India: Star Sports 2, Star Sports Select HD 2
UK: BT Sport 1
Stream in India: Disney+ Hotstar
Stream in UK: BT Sport App
Brighton vs Manchester United: Prediction
Manchester United will have happy memories of their last trip to the Amex in June. They produced one of their best performances of last season when they beat Brighton convincingly with a 3-0 scoreline.
A defeat at home against Palace was an unsavoury start to the new campaign but they will be looking to bounce back. However, Brighton are a tricky team to beat at home and they have the players in their team to take advantage of a shaky Manchester United defence.
The Premier League giants will hope that their attacking talents will eventually decide the game in their favour and get them back to winning ways in the new season. We expect Manchester United to get their first three points of the season in the south coast today.
Brighton vs Manchester United predicted scoreline: 1-2
Also Read: West Brom vs Chelsea: Preview, team news, predicted XI and more | Premier League 2020-21