Here is everything you need to know ahead of Manchester United’s trip to Brighton in Saturday early kick-off match.
Team News
Brighton will be without several key players for this match, with Solly March and Julio Enciso both sidelined due to knee injuries. Bart Verbruggen and Igor Julio are out with unspecified issues, while Evan Ferguson, Pervis Estupinan and Tariq Lamptey have returned to training and will undergo late fitness tests before the game. Yankuba Minteh is available for selection after being substituted as a precaution due to concussion protocols during his debut against Everton last weekend. In terms of transfers, Valentin Barco is on the brink of securing a loan move to Sevilla, while Brighton’s record signing, Georginio Rutter, who joined from Leeds for £40 million on Tuesday, could make his debut.
As for the Red Devils, there are some of their typical problems. Man United will be without Luke Shaw (calf), Tyrell Malacia (knee), Leny Yoro (foot), and Rasmus Hojlund (hamstring) as they remain out of action, while Victor Lindelof has a toe injury that will keep him out of contention as well. This could mean United could start with an unchanged back four of Noussair Mazraoui, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, and Diogo Dalot, who secured a clean sheet against Fulham. Still, most fans will be interested to see whether Matthijs De Ligt might be getting his chance after joining the club from Bayern Munich.
Form Guide
Brighton had a dream start to the new Premier League season. They defeated Everton 3-0 at Goodison, showing they will be a tricky team to face for yet another season. Fabian Hurzeler’s side pummelled the Toffees with a great performance, in which Kaoru Mitoma scored the opener, before Danny Welbeck doubled the lead before the hour mark. And then the sub Simon Adingra added the third in the late stage of the match, showing Sean Dyche a progressive style of football Brighton have become renowned for. James Milner started in midfield, marking his 23rd season in the Premier League. Prior to that, Brighton were also putting in some great performances during pre-season, most notably a 4-0 win against Villarreal in their final friendly.
These are all good reasons for Man United to be careful, but the Red Devils also had a good start to the campaign. A 1-0 win against Fulham was good and the scoreline could have even been better, was it for better finishing from Bruno Fernandes. But overall, United were in control for the most part, they kept a clean-sheet after some nice long-range stops from Andre Onana, with Joshua Zirkzee scoring the late winner. Their performance against Man City in the Community Shield before that was also a positive one and hopefully United can get their second consecutive win in Brighton this year, after the 2-0 victory in May.
Predicted Outcome
Considering everything, this could be a really tough match for the Devils, but we predict Manchester United will beat Brighton 2-1. We expect a highly entertaining match, where we would not be surprised if a greater number of goals were to be scored.
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