Brighton & Hove Albion will host Manchester United in a crunch Premier League tie at the Falmer Stadium on Thursday.
After several setbacks, the Seagulls turned things around on Saturday, defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers 6-0 at home. This was Brighton’s biggest victory of the season thanks to goals from Danny Welbeck, Pascal Gross, and Deniz Undav.
Meanwhile, United will aim to return to winning ways after a 2-2 draw at Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday. They defeated Aston Villa 1-0 at home and Bruno Fernandes scored the lone goal in the 39th minute.
The Red Devils last faced Roberto De Zerbi’s side in the FA Cup semi-final clash last month. After a sluggish draw, United won all their penalties and secured a spot in the finals.
Brighton and Hove Albion vs Manchester United: Head to Head
Since 1909, the two teams have faced off 30 times in various tournaments, with 11 of these encounters occurring in the Premier League. The Reds lead the numbers with 20-5 overall victories (7-4 in the league).
Five of United’s last seven league games have ended in clean sheets. However, Brighton have won three of their last five Premier League home games against United. They have scored 14 goals and held three clean sheets.
Brighton and Hove Albion vs Manchester United: Team News
Brighton:
Due to an illness, manager Roberto De Zerbi was unable to do his pre-game press conference on Wednesday. As a result, he might not be able to manage the touchline in this situation.
Right-back Joel Veltman could join Tariq Lamptey, Jakub Moder, Evan Ferguson, Jeremy Sarmiento, and Adam Lallana on the sidelines and they look highly unlikely to feature against the Red Devils.
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Despite that, Brighton’s second team were able to demolish Wolves by a 6-0 scoreline. Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister, Kaoru Mitoma, and Levi Colwill will return to the lineup on Thursday.
Manchester United:
Although Raphael Varane is expected to make a comeback this season, Ten Hag has confirmed that the centre-back won’t be present for this match.
Scott McTominay, Alejandro Garnacho, Lisandro Martinez, Donny van de Beek, and Tom Heaton will remain on the sidelines. The fans would be worried about the unavailability of various players in the line-up.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka may be given the nod at right-back after his performance against Mitoma in the semifinal. A decision also needs to be made regarding the wide attacking positions after Jadon Sancho’s underwhelming performance against Aston Villa.
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Brighton and Hove Albion vs Manchester United: Our Predictions
Brighton has lost three times in five games since the start of the regular season after the international break.
They have defeated the Red Devils in the Premier League twice in a row. In the rematch in August, Brighton prevailed 2-1 with an eye towards capturing their first league double over their northern rivals.
Meanwhile, United has improved recently, going undefeated in their last five league games while recording four clean sheets. Last month’s FA Cup match between the two sides ended in a tie but United prevailed in the penalty shoot-outs.
However, due to the injuries to both teams, we expect a low-scoring encounter on Thursday.
Our Predicted Score:
Brighton and Hove Albion 1- 1 Manchester United
